Ong Beng Seng's property development company halts trading ahead of his scheduled court appearance

A property and hotel development company owned by billionaire Ong Beng Seng, Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), has requested for a trading halt ahead of his scheduled appearance in court on Oct. 4.

The announcement of the request was made by HPL on the Singapore Exchange at 7:45am.

The reason given for the trading halt was, "Pending the release of announcement."

Ong, 78, is scheduled to appear in court at 2:30pm later on the same day on Friday.

He is expected to be charged on Oct. 4 in relation to former transport minister S Iswaran's case.

According to court records seen by Mothership, the two charges listed are abetment under Section 165, for a public servant obtaining valuables, and Section 204A, for obstructing justice.

Links to Iswaran

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

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

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said they would decide again after the proceedings on Iswaran concluded.

Iswaran was sentenced to one year's jail after pleading guilty to five charges on Sep. 24.

Top left photo via Singapore GP Ptd Ltd, right photo via Andrew Koay/Mothership