The guilty plea of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who is facing two charges related to the case of former transport minister S Iswaran, has been postponed.
The 79-year-old was originally set to plead guilty on Thursday, July 3, but he will now appear at a pre-trial conference on July 8 at 9.30 am.
Iswaran entered a guilty plea to two charges in September 2024, which Ong was charged with in October 2024.
The Malaysian businessman, who is based in Singapore, is charged with helping Iswaran secure a trip to Doha in December 2022 that was fully paid for and cost roughly S$20,850.
These consist of a business class flight from Doha to Singapore, a one-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, and an outbound flight on Ong's private aircraft from Singapore to Doha.
The second charge claims that Ong purposefully assisted Iswaran in May 2023, when the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had started its investigation, by paying S$5,700 to Singapore GP for a business class ticket from Doha to Singapore, thereby aiding and abetting the obstruction of justice.
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".
Ong has been receiving chemotherapy for bone marrow cancer, and he has already been granted permission to travel overseas for medical reasons.
In October 2024, Iswaran received a 12-month prison sentence. After completing his emplacement and leaving prison custody on June 6, he was placed on home detention on February 7.
