By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-04 06:54:09 | Updated at 2024-10-04 09:30:53
2 hours ago
Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng was charged in court on Friday for abetting former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran’s offences.
Ong, widely credited for bringing Formula One grand prix racing to the city state, faces one charge of abetting a public servant to obtain valuable gifts and another of obstructing justice.
Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment on Thursday for receiving more than S$400,000 (US$308,518) worth of items from Ong and businessman Lum Kok Seng and obstructing justice.
The court heard in Iswaran’s case that Ong, who co-founded Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) and is its managing director, gave the politician gifts including tickets to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, Premier League tickets and an “an all-expenses paid trip” to Doha on the billionaire’s private jet.
Ong, 78, also owns the rights to the Singapore GP and Iswaran was chairman of the event’s steering committee.
Iswaran asked Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the Doha tour when Ong learnt that the flight manifest had been seized by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). The 62-year-old issued a cheque for S$5,700 to Singapore GP in May 2023.
