Property magnate Ong Beng Seng is scheduled to enter a guilty plea to two counts related to the investigations of former Transport Minister S. Iswaran by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
Ong was accused on October 4, 2024, with aiding and abetting the obstruction of justice and assisting a public worker in receiving gifts.
Ong had a pre-trial conference on Friday, February 28. After the hearing, an update on the court’s case management system revealed his decision to enter a guilty plea to his charges. On April 2, he is expected to enter a guilty plea in court.
Ong, 79, is represented by a team of lawyers from Allen and Gledhill, including Aaron Lee.
Under Section 165, which makes it illegal for a public servant to accept anything of value from someone with whom he has an official relationship without payment or with insufficient payment, the millionaire was charged with one count of abetment.
Court filings claim that in December 2022, the billionaire offered the then-minister a trip from Singapore to Doha, reportedly pressuring Iswaran to acquire a valued item. The cost of the trip on Ong’s private aircraft was $7,700 USD (S$10,400).
Additionally, Ong secured for Iswaran a business-class ticket from Doha to Singapore, worth $5,700, and a one-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, worth $4,737.63.
Additionally, Ong was accused of aiding and abetting the obstruction of justice.
Iswaran allegedly asked the tycoon to bill him for the ticket in order to evade investigations after he informed him that the CPIB had confiscated the flight manifest for the December 2022 trip.
Ong was one of several people contacted by the CPIB regarding the Iswaran investigation.
He is credited with organizing the first-ever night race in the history of Formula One (F1), which took place in Singapore in 2008. The Singapore Grand Prix rights belong to him.
Iswaran served as the lead negotiator on race-related business issues with race promoter Singapore GP and as the chairman of the F1 steering committee.
In the middle of the 2000s, the two individuals had been trying to persuade Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of the Formula One Group at the time, to hold the sport’s first night race in Singapore.
The majority of the 35 charges against Iswaran, 62, involved Ong.
Regarding the former minister’s case, the Attorney-General’s Chambers had stated that Ong will not face any more charges.
On October 3, Iswaran received a 12-month prison sentence for taking several valuable items from Ong, among other offenses.
