Corruption in Singapore 'under control': CPIB

CORRUPTION complaints and investigations in Singapore fell to a three-decade low in 2014, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said on Thursday. The number of people prosecuted as a result of CPIB investigations also dipped to 168 last year, from 179 in 2013, the CPIB said in its first data release of this nature.

This shows that the corruption situation in Singapore is stable and "under control", said CPIB, which reports to the Prime Minister's Office and intends to release these statistics once a year.

Last year, CPIB received 736 complaints, including ones not strictly related to corruption, such as cheating and misappropriating public or company funds. Those are referred to the relevant authorities, CPIB said. This was 7 per cent lower than the 792 reports in 2013, and is the lowest it has been since 1984, CPIB said.

All corruption complaints, anonymous or not, are evaluated by a CPIB committee, which decides whether there is sufficient information for investigation or other follow-up actions.

The number of cases that made it past the evaluation stage to investigation also hit a 30-year low last year. 136 of the 736 complaints in 2014 led to investigation, 11 per cent down from 152 cases in 2013.

Of the cases which underwent investigation, a minority of 15 per cent involved public sector officials, CPIB said. The rest were cases of private sector individuals giving, offering or receiving bribes. In 13 per cent of the cases, these bribes were offered to public officers, who rejected them.