Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng charged with abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts & obstructing justice

Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng was charged on Oct. 4 in relation to former transport minister S Iswaran's case.

According to charge sheets, Ong faces one charge of abetting Iswaran in obtaining gifts and another charge of aiding Iswaran to obstruct justice.

He did not indicate how he would plead.

On Oct. 3, a day earlier, Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months' jail.

Charges

Ong’s first charge of abetment involves allegedly instigating Iswaran to obtain a trip to Doha with him sometime in December 2022, according to charge sheets seen by Mothership.

Ong is accused of making arrangements:

- For an outbound flight on his private plane from Singapore to Doha, worth about S$10,410.40

- Through Singapore GP Pte Ltd, a one-night stay in Four Seasons Hotel Doha, worth S$4,737.63

- Through Singapore GP Pte Ltd, a business class flight from Doha to Singapore, worth S$5,700

The charge sheet states that Iswaran knew the trip was done in the business of the facilitation agreement for the Singapore Grand Prix 2022 to 2028, between Singapore GP Pte Lid and the Singapore Tourism Board.

This had a connection with Iswaran’s official functions as minister and chairman of the F1 Steering Committee.

The second charge for obstruction of justice accuses Ong of intentionally aiding Iswaran to make payment of S$5,700 to Singapore GP Pte Ltd for the business class ticket from Doha to Singapore.

Ong allegedly instructed a Mok Chee Liang to bill the cost of the flight to Iswaran.

In light of Iswaran making the payment, the act was "likely to obstruct the course of justice”, the charge sheet stated.

Adjournment

Ong's defence asked for an adjournment of six weeks.

The prosecution had no objection to the request.

His case was adjourned to Nov. 15.

Ong's bail has been extended and remains at S$800,000.

Background

Ong was previously arrested on the same day as Iswaran on Jul. 11, 2023.

Ong's name was first associated with Iswaran following a months-long investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

This investigation led to the former transport minister being charged with corruption on Jan. 18, 2024, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Iswaran's original charges include accepting over S$160,000 and valuable items worth over S$218,000 from Ong Beng Seng while he was a public servant.

He faced a total of 35 charges, two of which were corruption charges.

Ong was listed as a witness for Iswaran's case before Iswaran decided to plead guilty.

However, on Sep. 24, the two corruption charges were amended to charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, which makes it an offence for a public servant to accept anything of value without payment or with inadequate payment from any person with whom he is involved in an official capacity.

The prosecution proceeded on five charges: four under Section 165 of the Penal Code and one charge of obstruction of justice.

Iswaran pleaded guilty to all five charges.

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) had said that they would decide on action against the hotelier after Iswaran's case has concluded.

Top photo by Aiman/Mothership