SINGAPORE (AFP) – Malaysian hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng is set to plead guilty in Singapore to charges connected to the city-state’s jailed former transport minister, a court said yesterday.
An update on the court’s case management system after a pre-trial conference said Ong, 79, will plead guilty at a hearing scheduled on April 2.
The billionaire was charged last October with abetting the obstruction of justice and abetting a public servant to obtain valuables, a day after former Singapore transport minister S Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months behind bars.
The first charge of abetting obstruction of justice is punishable with up to seven years in jail, a fine, or both. The second charge can incur a maximum prison term of up to two years. The Singapore-based billionaire had attracted significant media attention due to his links with Iswaran.
In July 2023, Ong was arrested during a graft probe involving Iswaran and was subsequently released on bail.
Iswaran had pleaded guilty to accepting illegal gifts, including tickets to the 2017 Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, flights and a hotel stay, all furnished by Ong.
Ong owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix, while Iswaran is credited for helping bring Formula One to the financial hub.
Iswaran was eventually convicted on five charges, including accepting illegal gifts and obstructing justice, in the city-state’s first political graft trial in nearly half a century.
