A billionaire, best known for bringing the Formula One night race to Singapore, has pleaded guilty to a charge linked to a landmark corruption scandal that shocked the Asian financial hub known for its squeaky clean government.
Ong Beng Seng, 78, has conceded to obstructing justice by helping ex-transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran in covering up evidence as he was being investigated in a corruption case.
However, Ong will be granted judicial mercy by both the prosecution and defence due to his ongoing chronic illness argued for him to be fined in lieu of imprisonment.
In a case that shocked Singapore – one of the least corrupt countries globally – Ong was accused of giving kickbacks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to Iswaran. The list of luxury gifts sent by Ong included 2022 a trip on his private jet to Doha, a stay at the Four Seasons there, and a return business class ticket worth S$5,700 ($4,422).
The former transport minister was also made the chair of chairman of a committee for the F1 night race.
Ong will be sentenced on 15 August.
Ong initially faced up to two years in prison for abetting a public servant in accepting gifts, and up to seven years for abetting the obstruction of justice.
However, the city-state’s courts allow judicial mercy, allowing a more lenient sentence in exceptional mitigating circumstances, such as a terminal illness or when imprisonment could pose a high risk of endangering a life.
The business tycoon had been suffering from a rare bone marrow cancer diagnosed in 2020, a type of it which is incurable cancer that affects his blood plasma cells and renders him immunocompromised.
“Ong’s home environment will be more pristine than prison,” lawyer Cavinder Bull said. “Ong is living within a narrow margin where there is no room for error.”
In 2024, Iswaran was sentenced to one year in prison in 2024 for accepting gifts from Ong more than $300,000 worth of gifts, which included items such as a Brompton bicycle and race tickets.
Ong gave Iswaran tickets to English Premier League soccer matches, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, and London musicals.
In February, Iswaran was put under house arrest for the remainder of his sentence.
At Iswaran’s sentencing last October, the court was told that the minister requested Ong to bill for the business class flight from Doha to Singapore after Ong told him that the flight was being investigated by the corruption watchdog.
Ong had informed Iswaran that his associates had been questioned, and a private flight manifest with Iswaran’s name on it for a flight had been seized by the corruption watchdog during investigations.
Ong pleaded guilty to belated billing Iswaran for the expenses and on a second charge for abetting Iswaran’s acceptance of an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha, valued at approximately S$20,850 (US$16,188).
Both were arrested in July 2023, and it was alleged that Iswaran received gifts worth more than S$403,000 ($311,882).
Born in 1946 in what was then Malaya, Ong moved to Singapore as a child and went on to establish Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) in the 1980s – a hotel and property firm with global brands such as Four Seasons and Marriott under its umbrella.
Ong played a key role in bringing the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore in 2008, leveraging his close ties with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. His company continues to run the annual night race, maintaining a significant footprint in the city.
The current contract, secured through a multiyear agreement with Singapore’s tourism board, is set to run until 2028.
