A billionaire hotelier has pleaded guilty to abetting offences in a rare corruption case that gripped Singapore and landed a former minister in jail.
Ong Beng Seng is accused of giving expensive gifts, including tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix, hotel stays and a ride on a private jet to ex-transportation minister Subramaniam Iswaran while they were engaged in official business.
Ministers in Singapore cannot keep gifts unless they pay the market value of the gift to the government, and they must declare anything they receive from people they have business dealings with.
The case shocked many in Singapore, a financial hub that prides itself on a squeaky clean image.
The two men were arrested in July 2023, in a rare corruption scandal that gripped the country.
Charge sheets revealed that Iswaran was gifted more than S$403,000 ($311,882; £234,586) worth of flights, hotel stays, musicals and grand prix tickets.
Singapore’s lawmakers are among the highest-paid in the world, with some ministers earning more than S$1 million ($758,000). Leaders justify the handsome salaries by saying it combats corruption.
Mr Ong helped brought the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore and his company Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) has brands like the Four Seasons and the Hard Rock Hotel operating under them.
At the time of the offences Iswaran was in the government’s F1 steering committee and the chief negotiator on F1-related business matters.
Mr Ong has been accused of abetting Iswaran in obtaining an all expenses paid trip to Doha, said to be worth around S$20,850 ($16,188; £12,194).
He is also charged with abetting the obstruction of justice by helping Iswaran make a payment to the Singapore Grand Prix for a business flight ticket from Doha to Singapore.
He faces up to two years in jail for abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, while the maximum jail term he faces for the abetment of obstruction of justice is seven years.
Born in Malaysia in 1946, Mr Ong moved to Singapore as a child and founded a hotel and property company in the 1980s.
Mr Ong has a rare bone marrow cancer, and the court previously allowed him to travel abroad for medical and work purposes.
His company, Hotel Properties Limited, had earlier in April said that Ong would step down as its managing director “manage his medical conditions”.
By BBC News
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