Corruption Complaints at a 30-year low: CPIB

SINGAPORE — Traditionally an organisation that keeps its workings away from the public eye, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) yesterday released for the first time detailed statistics, which showed that the number of complaints it received fell to a 30-year low last year.

Among these, the number of complaints containing enough information for investigations to be carried out is also at the lowest in three decades, showing that the corruption situation in Singapore remains stable, the bureau said in a press release yesterday.

The CPIB received 736 complaints last year, 7 per cent lower than the 792 in 2013. Of these, 136 cases were logged for graft investigations. Of the rest, some complaints were not able to be acted on because of scanty information, while others pertained to other kinds of offences, such as cheating and misappropriation of funds.

A total of 168 cases were prosecuted in court last year, although the figure could include cases that the CPIB had started work on in preceding years. The conviction rate was 96 per cent.

The lifting of the veil of secrecy is, in part, to maintain a strong anti-graft culture, CPIB said.

The move comes after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced stronger measures to fight corruption in Click here