Singapore-based business tycoon Ong Beng Seng on Monday pleaded guilty to charges connected to the corruption investigation against former transport minister S. Iswaran.
Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by a High Court judge last October after being convicted on four counts of accepting gifts from individuals with whom he had professional dealings as a public servant, and one charge of obstructing justice.
The case attracted considerable attention in the city state, which consistently ranks high on global anti-corruption indices and where ministers are well paid.
Ong, a 79-year-old Malaysian national, pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge of abetting Iswaran in obstructing justice. According to the charge, in May 2023, Iswaran paid S$5,700 (US$4,260) to Singapore GP Pte Ltd – the company that organised the Singapore F1 Grand Prix – for a business class flight ticket from Doha to Singapore, at a time when the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had already commenced its investigations.
He also consented to a second charge, of abetting Iswaran in obtaining an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha worth about S$20,850 in December 2022 to be taken into consideration for his sentencing. This included an outbound flight on Ong’s private plane from Singapore to Doha, a one-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha and a business class return flight from Doha to Singapore.
Ong’s hearing had previously been delayed owing to him being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, for which he obtained permission to travel abroad for treatment.
