Eight public officers referred to the police over homes bought near future MRT stations. A referral is not a finding of guilt, Chan Chun Sing says
On 6 October Chan Chun Sing, Coordinating Minister for Public Services, told Parliament that eight public officers had been referred to the police over property purchases near future MRT stations. The Public Service Division reviewed purchases by 191 officers who worked in agencies involved in rail planning and bought property between 2007 and 2014 near locations later announced as stations. The cases were flagged because of the circumstances of the purchase or because there was not enough information to rule them out. Mr Chan said a referral is not a finding of guilt and that the police will look at the facts independently. The review followed a US National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that claimed clear evidence of informed trading; such papers are not peer-reviewed.
Planning decisions move property prices. If officials can profit from information the public does not have, trust in the whole planning system suffers. A clean result would matter just as much.
For home buyers, the case is a reminder that future station locations are valuable information. The rules require it to stay secret until announced.
The government acted on an outside claim quickly and openly, and a police referral is the right step when the facts are unclear.
The review covered only officers in rail-planning agencies and only up to 2014. Critics may ask whether others with access to the information were checked.
Watch for three things: whether the police bring charges, whether the review is widened, and whether the government publishes its method. The NBER paper is a statistical claim; the police inquiry will test the individual cases.
DailyDrop Singapore edition No. 2 · Morning · TUE., OCT. 6, 2026