Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng to be charged over Iswaran’s case

Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng is set to be charged in court on Friday (Oct 4), a day after former transport minister S Iswaran was sentenced to one year in jail yesterday. 

Ong, who is the chairman of Formula One (F1) race promoter Singapore GP, faces one charge for abetment under Section 165 and another charge under Section 204A of the Penal Code. 

Section 165 punishes obtaining gifts in public office when there are official business dealings between the parties involved, while Section 204A relates to the obstruction of justice. 

The 78-year-old was previously arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau on July 11, 2023, amid investigations involving the former transport minister. 

Ong was later released on $800,000 bail, but no charges were filed against him then. 

When Iswaran pleaded guilty on Sept 24, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said it would "take a decision in respect of [Ong]". 

Two of the four counts under Section 165 for which Iswaran was convicted for are related to Ong.

• 10 Green Room tickets to the 2017 Singapore F1 Grand Prix obtained by Iswaran in September 2017, which are worth about $42,265. 
• An all-expenses paid trip to Doha in December 2022, which Iswaran took urgent personal leave for. He flew to Doha on Ong's private plane and was given a one-night stay at Four Seasons Hotel Doha. Iswaran later took a Doha to Singapore business class flight. The entire trip was worth about $20,850. 

Court documents showed that Ong alerted Iswaran that CPIB had seized the flight manifest for the trip in December 2022, reported The Straits Times. 

To avoid investigation into the gifts, Iswaran later asked Ong's Singapore GP to bill him for the business class ticket.  

This constituted the obstruction of justice for which Iswaran was charged and later pleaded guilty to.

HPL requests for trading halt 

Mere hours before Ong, a Malaysian who is based in Singapore, was due to appear in court on Friday (Oct 4), Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), requested for a trading halt. 

This was revealed in an announcement on the Singapore Exchange submitted by HPL's company secretary at 7.43am. 

The reason provided for the trading halt is a pending release of an announcement. 

A check on HPL's website on Oct 4 showed that Ong is still listed as its managing director.

The other person of interest in Iswaran's case, Lum Kok Seng, the managing director of construction firm Lum Chang, has not been charged. 

In March this year, CNA reported that the AGC said it would "take a decision in respect of the investigations against Lum" after the completion of Iswaran's case, similar to what it said about Ong.

Lum's name is currently not listed in the judiciary hearing list. 

ALSO READ: Former transport minister Iswaran sentenced to 12 months' jail

editor@asiaone.com