Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng to be charged on Oct 4 in relation to Iswaran’s case

Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, the chairman of Formula One (F1) race promoter Singapore GP, will be charged on Oct 4.

He faces one charge under Section 165, where he is accused of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, and one charge of obstruction of justice.

Mr Ong was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on July 11, 2023, amid a graft probe that involved former transport minister S. Iswaran.

Iswaran, who was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on Oct 3, had pleaded guilty to accepting a number of valuable items from Mr Ong, including an all-expense-paid trip to Doha.

Iswaran admitted to four charges under Section 165 and one charge of obstruction of justice.

Court documents showed it was Mr Ong who alerted Iswaran that CPIB 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, which he pleaded guilty to on Sept 24.

Mr Ong, 78, is known as the man who brought F1 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. He was also the chief negotiator with Singapore GP on business matters relating to the race.

HPL requests for trading halt ahead of Ong Beng Seng’s appearance in court over criminal allegations

Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the property and hotel developer owned by Mr Ong Beng Seng, requested for a trading halt ahead of the Singapore tycoon’s scheduled court appearance on Oct 4.

This was revealed in an announcement on the Singapore Exchange submitted by HPL’s company secretary at about 7.45am.

The reason given for the trading halt is a pending release of an announcement.

Mr Ong faces one charge under Section 165, where he is accused of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, and one charge of obstruction of justice.

He is scheduled to appear in court at 2.30pm on Oct 4.

It comes a day after former transport minister S. Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ jail.

The 62-year-old was convicted of five charges, including accepting a number of valuable items from Mr Ong, including an all-expense-paid trip to Doha.

Mr Ong was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on July 11, 2023, amid a graft probe that involved Iswaran.

Court documents showed it was Mr Ong who alerted Iswaran that CPIB 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.

Mr Ong, 78, is known as the man who brought F1 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. He was also the chief negotiator with Singapore GP on business matters relating to the race.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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