Property magnate Ong Beng Seng, who has been embroiled in criminal allegations linked to former Transport Minister S Iswaran, will have his case heard in court again on July 23 in a pre-trial conference.
The 79-year-old Malaysian was originally set to plead guilty on Thursday, July 3, but then he was asked to appear at a pre-trial conference on July 8 in the State Courts. Unfortunately, this hearing, which was not open to the public or media, resulted in another pre-trial conference scheduled for Jul 23.
The court records stated that the adjournment was "for parties to file revised papers".
Although the nature of these documents is unknown, the court had earlier declared that both parties wanted to submit additional sentencing submissions.
Ong is charged with hindering the administration of justice by assisting Iswaran in paying S$5,700 (US$4,480) to Singapore GP for a business class ticket from Doha to Singapore.
This payment was allegedly made months after the flight, and it wasn't until the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) found Iswaran's name on the flight manifest while looking into another case that they were able to make the payment.
The second charge is for instigating Iswaran to obtain flights, and a hotel stay from Ong. At this point, Iswaran became aware that Ong had commercial interests related to his official duties.
In October 2024, Ong—who is credited with introducing Formula 1 to Singapore in 2008—was first charged with two offenses, two of which Mr. Iswaran entered a guilty plea to.
Ong was the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), which had previously announced in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) announcement that Ong would enter a guilty plea to the charge of obstructing justice and acknowledge that the other charge would be taken into consideration for sentencing.
However, a bourse filing by the company claimed that he stepped down on Apr 29 to "devote more time to manage his medical conditions".
However, a bourse filing by the company claimed that he stepped down on Apr 29 to "devote more time to manage his medical conditions".
Ong has been receiving chemotherapy for bone marrow cancer, and he has already been granted permission to travel overseas for medical reasons.
