S. Iswaran turned himself in to a Singapore court to become the first ex-cabinet minister to be jailed in almost half a century, in a scandal that has riveted a city that prides itself on good governance.

S Iswaran has was accused of accepting gift worth $306,000 from Malaysian billionaire Ong Beng Seng and businessman David Lum

A Singapore court was due on Thursday to sentence a former transport minister convicted last week of receiving more than $300,000 worth of gifts, in what could be the first jailing of an ex-cabinet member in a city-state known for clean governance.

The sentence for S. Iswaran, the former transportation minister who pleaded guilty last week, was longer than what prosecutors had sought.

S. Iswaran turned himself in to a Singapore court to become the first ex-cabinet minister to be jailed in almost half a century, in a scandal that has riveted a city that prides itself on good governance.

Former Transport Minister S. Iswaran said it was important to him that prosecutors reduced two corruption charges to charges of receiving illegal gifts at the start of the trial last month. Iswaran had pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing justice and four of accepting gifts from two businessmen with whom he had official business.

Iswaran, who was convicted after pleading guilty to four charges of obtaining valuable items as a public servant and one count of obstruction of justice, is scheduled to surrender to the court at 4 pm on Monday to begin his sentence.

Singapore’s former transport minister S Iswaran said he would not be appealing his 12-month jail term, which starts today, after he was convicted of four counts of receiving gifts and one of obstructing justice.