Singapore’s property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleads guilty in case linked to jailed ex-minister

Singaporean property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge of obstructing justice in a high-profile case that led to the imprisonment of former transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran last year.

Both the prosecution and defence requested judicial mercy due to Ong’s chronic illness, asking the court to impose a fine instead of a jail sentence.

He will be sentenced on 15 August.

A second charge of abetting an offence was taken into consideration.

Judicial mercy in Singapore allows courts to issue more lenient sentences under exceptional circumstances, such as terminal illness or when imprisonment may endanger a person's life.

The defence said Ong suffers from multiple myeloma, a type of incurable blood cancer that leaves him immunocompromised.

According to prosecutors, Ong had informed Iswaran that his associates were questioned and that a private flight manifest bearing Iswaran’s name for a Singapore-to-Doha trip had been seized by anti-graft investigators.

This prompted Iswaran to ask Ong to issue an invoice through Singapore GP, the promoter of the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, to bill him for the trip – a move prosecutors say Iswaran believed would reduce the likelihood of an investigation.

Iswaran, who was jailed for 12 months in October 2024 for obstructing justice and accepting more than $300,000 in gifts, became the first former cabinet minister in Singapore to be imprisoned.

He was placed under house arrest in February to serve the remainder of his sentence.

Ong had also provided Iswaran with tickets to English Premier League matches, the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, London musicals, and a private jet ride, among other favours.

Iswaran served as an adviser to the Singapore Grand Prix’s steering committee, while Ong, 78, holds the rights to the race.

The billionaire stepped down as managing director of Singapore-listed Hotel Properties in April.

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