Ong Beng Seng leaving the state court, in Singapore on Oct 4, 2024. - Reuters
SINGAPORE: Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng has been handed a charge under Section 165 and another for obstruction of justice.
According to court documents, the 78-year-old had sometime in December 2022 allegedly instigated former transport minister S. Iswaran to obtain a valuable thing by offering him a trip from Singapore to Doha on his private plane with a value of about US$7,700 ($10,410.40).
He also arranged a one night’s stay in Four Seasons Hotel Doha with a value of S$4,737.63; and a business class flight from Doha to Singapore with a value of S$5,700 for Iswaran.
Ong, who arrived at the State Courts at 2.20pm on Oct 4, was accompanied by his lawyer Aaron Lee from Allen and Gledhill.
Court documents for Iswaran’s case showed it was Ong who alerted him that the anti-graft body had seized the flight manifest for the trip in December 2022, prompting the former Cabinet minister to ask the tycoon to bill him for the flight to avoid investigations into the gifts.
This formed the basis of Iswaran’s obstruction of justice charge.
Ong was on Oct 4 charged with abetment under Section 165, which makes it an offence for a public servant to accept anything of value from any person with whom they are involved in an official capacity without payment or with inadequate payment.
He was also charged with abetment of obstruction of justice.
In court, Lee said he needed time to take instructions from Ong and make representations. He asked for a six-week adjournment and to move the case to pre-trial conference.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong, said it had no objections. The case was adjourned to Nov 15.
Ong, who is the chairman of Formula One (F1) race promoter Singapore GP, was among a number of individuals called up by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) over the Iswaran probe.
His court appearance comes more than a year after he was arrested by the CPIB on July 11, 2023. He subsequently posted bail of $100,000 and was also allowed to travel to Bali.
Iswaran, 62, was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on Oct 3 after pleading guilty to five charges, including accepting a number of valuable items from Ong, including an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha.
Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the property and hotel developer co-founded by Ong, had on the morning of Oct 4 requested a trading halt pending the release of an announcement.
Ong is also the company’s managing director and controlling shareholder.
The tycoon is known as the man who brought Formula One to Singapore in 2008 – the first night race in the sport’s history. He owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix.
Iswaran was the chairman of the F1 steering committee, and the chief negotiator with Singapore GP on business matters relating to the race.
The two men had worked in the mid-2000s to convince then Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone to make Singapore the venue for the sport’s first night race. - The Straits TImes/ANN
