5 months ago
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.
Ong, the majority shareholder of Singapore GP, was told by his associates on May 18, 2023, that the anti-corruption agency had seized the flight manifest containing details of the Doha trip, the court heard. He then relayed this information to Iswaran over the phone.
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