Civil servants buying properties close to planned MRT stations: Government assessing whether there was misconduct

The Government is currently reviewing if there was actual misconduct in cases highlighted in a study on civil servants buying properties close to future MRT stations, the Public Service Division (PSD) of the Prime Minister's Office said on Friday (Sept 25).

The study, a working paper under the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) circulated in September, had reported a statistical association between civil servants and the homes they purchased near planned MRT stations prior to public announcements regarding the stations.

It looked at cases from 2007 to 2011, and determined proximity to be within a 1km radius from future MRT stations within the period.

Stressing that PSD takes the paper's assertions seriously, it said that the patterns reported are concerning.

"But statistical patterns do not by themselves establish whether any individual officer actually had access to non-public information on MRT station locations at the relevant time, or whether such information influenced a property purchase," PSD said.

Therefore, the Government is looking into the possibility of actual misconduct by identifying property purchases during the period specified in the paper.

They will then compare this with information of officers who were involved in rail planning at the time, as well as the proximity of their purchases to the relevant MRT station.

"As these transactions took place some time ago, we will need time to retrieve the available records and examine the circumstances of each case," PSD stated.

"If we find evidence that an officer used non-public information to make a property purchase for personal benefit, the case will be referred to the police for further investigation."

AsiaOne understands that the NBER paper utilises fuzzy matching to determine if a civil servant has purchased a property near a future MRT station.

In this instance, fuzzy matching compares names that appear in the Singapore Government Directory (SGDI) with names that appear in the Registry of Land Titles and identifies if there could be an approximate match.

Within SGDI, six cohorts were used by researchers — specifically from 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2022 — to identify civil servants and track their property transactions.

The Government — with access to personally identifiable data — is able to establish exact matches using its administrative data and will look into this to identify if there are actual instances of misconduct.

Rules and safeguards

PSD also highlighted that it has rules and safeguards that deter and prevent officers from using non-public information gained in their line of work for personal benefit.

Not only are public officers required to make ad hoc declarations for their property purchases, they must also do so annually.

Furthermore, PSD also stated that there are existing controls over access to sensitive information, as well as  whistleblowing channels should wrongdoing be suspected.

"Today, officers with non-public information that may be relevant to a proposed personal transaction - whether involving property, vehicles or financial instruments - must declare this and obtain approval before proceeding," PSD said.

The division also assured that if there are grounds to suspect misconduct by civil servants in misusing non-public information for personal benefit, the matter will be investigated and appropriate action taken.

Additional reporting by Edmund Chua.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com