Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty to abetting the obstruction of justice at the state court today, in a case linked to former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran, according to local media reports.
The Malaysian businessman, who played a key role in bringing the F1 race to Singapore, admitted to the charge related to a December 2022 trip to Qatar, for which Iswaran had accepted Ong’s invitation, The Straits Times (ST) reported.
A second charge of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
Ong was first charged on Oct 4, 2024. His guilty plea followed multiple pre-trial conferences and court adjournments.
The prosecution said Iswaran did not pay for his flight to Doha or his return flight to Singapore, nor did he pay for his hotel accommodation.
Iswaran had travelled to Doha on Ong’s private jet, while his hotel stay and return business-class flight were paid for by Singapore GP Pte Ltd (SGP) on Ong’s instructions.
In October 2024, Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment by the High Court after pleading guilty to four charges of obtaining valuable items as a public servant and one count of obstruction of justice.
The obstruction of justice charge was linked to the S$5,700 Iswaran repaid to SGP for the cost of his business-class flight from Doha to Singapore in 2022.
The prosecution said Ong also knew that Iswaran’s act of making the repayment was likely to obstruct the course of justice, ST reported.
Principal district judge Lee Lit Cheng set sentencing for Aug 15. Ong’s bail of S$800,000 meanwhile was extended.
In mitigation, Ong’s defence team said that he suffered from multiple myeloma, a type of cancer, which rendered him immunocompromised and would endanger his life if he were to contract an infection in prison.
The prosecution accepted that the exercise of judicial mercy was warranted in Ong’s case and did not object to the maximum fine for him instead of imprisonment, according to ST.
