SINGAPORE: Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty on Monday (Aug 4) to abetting former Transport Minister S Iswaran in obstructing the course of justice.
The 79-year-old Malaysian admitted to one charge by having Iswaran belatedly billed a sum of S$5,700 (US$4,480) to Singapore GP for a business class flight ticket from Doha to Singapore.
This payment was made months after the flight itself and only after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) discovered Iswaran’s name on the manifest for his outbound flight to Doha when investigating a separate case.
A second charge was taken into consideration, for Ong instigating Iswaran to obtain flights and a hotel stay from him. This was when Iswaran knew Ong had business dealings linked with Iswaran’s official functions.
The prosecution, led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong, said they would have asked for eight weeks’ jail for Ong, explaining in detail how they calculated that figure based on the jail term Iswaran had received.
However, due to the “severity and complexity” of Ong’s incurable medical conditions, imprisonment would result in “an increased risk of endangering his life”.
Therefore, the prosecution did not object to judicial mercy being exercised in this case, and for the maximum fine being imposed instead.
Ong’s defence team, led by Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull from Drew & Napier, explained his medical conditions, stressing that prison would expose Ong to potential infections that could kill him.
In contrast, he has had a medical team of doctors and nurses treating him for several years, who are familiar with his conditions. His home environment is also “more pristine” than prison, where more people come and go with guard changes and staff changes in the prison hospital.
Judicial mercy refers to the discretionary power that Singapore’s courts have to impose a sentence that is more lenient than what the circumstances of an offence would otherwise warrant.
This is in recognition of exceptional mitigating circumstances.
Courts have previously exercised judicial mercy in cases involving dire medical conditions, such as where the offender did not have long left to live, or where jail would pose a significant risk to the offender’s life.
THE DOHA TRIP
Ong, who is known for bringing Formula 1 to Singapore in 2008, was the majority shareholder of Singapore GP at the time of the offences and remains so.
At the time, Iswaran was Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations and responsible for overseeing the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix as a national project.
Singapore GP was responsible for organising and promoting the Singapore Grand Prix every year from 2008 to 2023, except for 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From 2012 to 2022, the Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore GP entered into three contracts for the promotion, hosting and staging of the race.
Iswaran was also the chairman of the F1 Steering Committee, which was set up in 2007 to oversee the race as a national project.
The court heard that sometime on or before Dec 6, 2022, Ong asked Iswaran if he would like to join him on a trip to Qatar.
Ong informed Iswaran that he would be travelling to Qatar on his private jet, that Iswaran would be going as his guest, and that Ong would look after him.
By this, Ong meant that he would take care of all the expenses for the trip, including Iswaran’s hotel accommodation, said prosecutors.
Iswaran accepted the invitation but said he would need to arrive back in Singapore by Dec 11, 2022. Ong responded that he would arrange for Iswaran to travel back to Singapore on a commercial flight.
Iswaran accepted Ong’s offer and applied for urgent personal leave to go on the trip.
On Dec 10, 2022, Iswaran travelled to Doha, the capital of Qatar, in Ong’s private jet. This flight had a value of about US$7,700.
Iswaran checked into the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha for one night, which cost S$4,737.63. The next day, he flew back to Singapore on a business class ticket that cost S$5,700.
Singapore GP paid for the hotel stay and return flight to Singapore. Iswaran only made payment to Singapore GP for the return flight on or about May 25, 2023.
DISCOVERY OF THE OFFENCE
On or about May 17, 2023, CPIB was investigating a separate matter related to Ong’s associates when it came across the flight manifest of the flight on Ong’s private jet that Iswaran had taken to Doha.
On May 18, 2023, Ong was informed by his associates that CPIB had seized the flight manifest containing details of the Doha trip, and that CPIB had questioned them about the Doha trip.
Sometime between May 18 and May 23, 2023, Ong spoke to Iswaran on the phone and informed him that the flight manifest for the Doha trip had been seized by CPIB when it was investigating a separate matter. Iswaran acknowledged this.
The next day, they spoke on the phone again. Iswaran asked Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the expenses related to the Doha trip, including his return flight.
Ong agreed and asked a director of Singapore GP to arrange this. Ong also instructed this director to keep proper records of the payment by Iswaran.
On May 24, 2023, the director emailed Iswaran’s personal assistant an invoice for the flight from Doha to Singapore. Iswaran issued a cheque for S$5,700 to Singapore GP.
“Iswaran’s act of making payment for the said flight ticket had a tendency to obstruct the course of justice, as it made it less likely that he would be investigated by CPIB in relation to the Doha trip,” said the prosecutors.
Ong was aware of this, they added.
MONDAY’S MISHAPS
Ong arrived at the State Courts court flanked by his team of lawyers, hoisting an umbrella to fend off the rain.
His guilty plea comes after several pre-trial conferences and an adjournment for a previous plea date set for July. On Monday, the taking of the plea seemed uncertain when two fire alarms went off after the judge appeared.
The alarms were later determined to be false, and the hearing proceeded 45 minutes late with an almost-full public gallery filled with lawyers, media and members of the public.
The plea also comes about two months after Iswaran was released on remission for his 12-month jail sentence, following his completion of home detention.
The businessman was first charged with two offences in October 2024 that correspond to two of the charges Iswaran pleaded guilty to.
Iswaran was given four months’ jail in October for the corresponding obstructing justice charge. His total sentence was 12 months for a total of five charges, with another 30 charges taken into consideration.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said in a statement after Iswaran was sentenced in October that the prosecution would not be tendering charges against Ong for his involvement in other charges faced by Iswaran.
“In arriving at this decision, the prosecution considered all the relevant facts and circumstances of the case, including the role that Ong played in each of the transactions,” said the AGC at the time.
It later emerged that Ong was undergoing treatment for cancer.
The maximum jail term for abetting the obstruction of justice is seven years.
