Singapore F1 tycoon pleads guilty in landmark corruption case
Ong Beng Seng, 78, has conceded to obstructing justice by helping ex-transport minister Subramaniam Iswaran in covering up evidence as he was being investigated in a corruption case.
However, Ong will be granted judicial mercy by both the prosecution and defence due to his ongoing chronic illness argued for him to be fined in lieu of imprisonment.
In a case that shocked Singapore – one of the least corrupt countries globally – Ong was accused of giving kickbacks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to Iswaran. The list of luxury gifts sent by Ong included 2022 a trip on his private jet to Doha, a stay at the Four Seasons there, and a return business class ticket worth S$5,700 ($4,422).
The former transport minister was also made the chair of chairman of a committee for the F1 night race.
Ong will be sentenced on 15 August.
Ong initially faced up to two years in prison for abetting a public servant in accepting gifts, and up to seven years for abetting the obstruction of justice.
However, the city-state's courts allow judicial mercy, allowing a more lenient sentence in exceptional mitigating circumstances, such as a terminal illness or when imprisonment could pose a high risk of endangering a life.
The business tycoon had been suffering from a rare bone marrow cancer diagnosed in 2020, a type of it which is incurable cancer that affects his blood plasma cells and renders him immunocompromised.
'Ong's home environment will be more pristine than prison,' lawyer Cavinder Bull said. 'Ong is living within a narrow margin where there is no room for error.'
In 2024, Iswaran was sentenced to one year in prison in 2024 for accepting gifts from Ong more than $300,000 worth of gifts, which included items such as a Brompton bicycle and race tickets.
Ong gave Iswaran tickets to English Premier League soccer matches, the Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix, and London musicals.
In February, Iswaran was put under house arrest for the remainder of his sentence.
At Iswaran's sentencing last October, the court was told that the minister requested Ong to bill for the business class flight from Doha to Singapore after Ong told him that the flight was being investigated by the corruption watchdog.
Ong had informed Iswaran that his associates had been questioned, and a private flight manifest with Iswaran's name on it for a flight had been seized by the corruption watchdog during investigations.
Ong pleaded guilty to belated billing Iswaran for the expenses and on a second charge for abetting Iswaran's acceptance of an all-expenses-paid trip to Doha, valued at approximately S$20,850 (US$16,188).
Both were arrested in July 2023, and it was alleged that Iswaran received gifts worth more than S$403,000 ($311,882).
Born in 1946 in what was then Malaya, Ong moved to Singapore as a child and went on to establish Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) in the 1980s – a hotel and property firm with global brands such as Four Seasons and Marriott under its umbrella.
The current contract, secured through a multiyear agreement with Singapore's tourism board, is set to run until 2028.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Prison system came 'within days of collapse' - and not just once
The prison system was close to collapse on a number of occasions between autumn 2023 and summer 2024, an independent review by former chief inspector of prisons, Dame Anne Owers, has found. The report, which was published on Tuesday, said there was a systemic problem which has led to recurring prison capacity crises over the last 18 years. Dame Anne warned there is an urgent need for senior staff in the justice system to move from crisis management to a more strategic approach to avoid repeated issues. The report also stressed the importance of having enough capacity in probation and other community services, as they are critical to prevent offending and reoffending. The report, which was commissioned by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood in February, also detailed the financial cost of the crisis. It found the price of holding prisoners in police cells reached over £70m, while construction costs for new prisons nearly doubled to £10.1bn. 0:33 Prisons struggling to 'work effectively and safely' Dame Anne said: "The scale, likelihood, risks, and consequences of the prison capacity crisis could not have been signalled more clearly, at every level of government. "The response was last-minute short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions to the underlying problems." She said the crises had spanned successive governments, and "seriously affected prisons' ability to work effectively and safely". Rather than just invest in prisons themselves, the government should pour more money into community provision to help reduce offending and reoffending, she added. Other recommendations include: • Putting in place a 10-year plan for capacity in probation and community services • Setting up an independent body to provide advice and check the plans of prison and probation services • Getting the HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Board to evaluate the Prison Service 2:28 'Close to total collapse' Ms Mahmood, the justice secretary, said: "This report lays bare the disgraceful way the last Conservative government ran our prisons. "They added less than 500 cells to the prison estate over 14 years, released over 10,000 prisoners early under a veil of secrecy, and brought our jails close to total collapse on countless occasions."
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Grand jury declines to indict former Atlanta police officer in church deacon's death
A grand jury on Monday declined to indict an former Atlanta police officer on manslaughter charges in the death of a church deacon who died in a struggle with the officer following a minor car crash. After hearing the case, Fulton County grand jurors rejected criminal charges against Kiran Kimbrough, said Jeff DiSantis, a spokesperson for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Johnny Hollman Sr. died in August 2023 after he refused to sign a citation following a wreck. Family members said the 62-year-old Hollman was driving home from Bible study at his daughter's house and taking dinner to his wife when he collided with another vehicle while turning across a busy street just west of downtown. Body camera video of Hollman's arrest shows Kimbrough repeatedly demanding that Hollman sign the citation, while Hollman insists he did nothing wrong. The two men tussled and Hollman ended up face down on the ground with Kimbrough over him, pressing him down. Holloman repeatedly says 'I can't breathe,' and Kimbrough uses a Taser to shock him repeatedly. The video also shows a tow truck driver helping Kimbrough. Hollman became unresponsive and was declared dead at a hospital. An autopsy determined the death was a homicide, with heart disease also a contributing factor. Lance LoRusso, who represents Kimbrough, said prosecutors sought to indict his client for one count of manslaughter, one count of simple battery and three counts of violating his oath of office. Kimbrough testified before the grand jury, as is an officer's right under state law, LoRusso said. 'While Johnny Hollman's death was tragic, in no way did Kiran Kimbrough cause the death,' LoRusso said in a statement Monday. 'Johnny Hollman's death was caused by medical complications and his felonious, unlawful resistance of a uniformed officer performing his lawful duties.' DiSantis said Willis is conferring with prosecutors and investigators about whether to ask a new grand jury to indict Kimbrough. Hollman's family members have repeatedly called for the former officer to be criminally charged. A statement from lawyers attributed to the family said they were 'devastated' by the grand jury's decision not to indict. 'The failure to hold this officer accountable is another painful reminder of how little value is placed on his life by some citizens,' the statement said. 'Our faith and our fight for justice will not waver.' Atlanta officials fired Kimbrough, saying he should have agreed to Hollman's request to speak to a supervisor. A civil service board upheld the firing, and the Atlanta City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit by Hollman's family alleging excessive force for $3.8 million. The family also sued the tow truck driver and his employer, saying the driver straddled Hollman's head and neck for at least 20 seconds and appeared to 'sit with his full body weight' on Hollman's head and neck while Kimbrough handcuffed Hollman. Atlanta and some other police departments have enacted policies saying that officers should no longer arrest people who refused to sign citations. State lawmakers passed a bill that would have enacted such a policy statewide earlier this year, but Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed it because he opposed a provision unrelated to collecting signatures from people named on citations.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
SNP accused of 'betraying' victims of crime as they wait three years for justice
Exclusive by Michael Blackley Victims of crime are now having to wait nearly three years to get justice in the most serious cases, including murder and rape. Growing backlogs of cases in the High Court have resulted in a sharp rise in the time taken to proceed from offence to verdict. Scheduled High Court trials have soared amid rising pressure on the justice system, which has failed to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Official figures reveal the median time from offence to verdict in the High Court has risen to 1,032 days, almost double the 520 days recorded in the year before the Covid pandemic. New data also shows scheduled High Court trials reached 743 in March and climbed to 818 by June - compared to 390 trials originally projected for the end of 2024/25 by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service when it carried out modelling in 2021. Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: 'These damning figures highlight that the SNP is miserably failing to clear the horrendous backlogs in Scotland's courts. 'Thanks to the Nationalists' chronic mismanagement of Scotland's courts, we are still miles away from hitting pre-pandemic backlog levels, despite what was predicted during the Covid period. 'SNP cuts to the justice budget and its failure to get funding to the front line are inevitably leading to mounting backlogs in the system - and that's a shameful betrayal of victims, because justice delayed is justice denied. 'Even victims of the most serious crimes are being betrayed by SNP ministers, as they now have to wait over 1,000 days on average for a verdict in High Court cases.' The figures, revealed by 1919 magazine, show that the median time from offence to verdict in the High Court was 1,032 days in 2023/24, compared to 520 days in 2019/20. In Sheriff Court cases, the median time from offence to verdict in 2023/24 was 564 days, compared to 283 days in 2019/20. Modelling from the SCTS published in March 2021 found that there was expected to be 390 trials scheduled in the High Court and 500 trials scheduled in Sheriff Solemn Courts by March 2025. But the new data shows there were actually 743 scheduled trials in the High Court and 1,004 in Sheriff Solemn Courts, which cover serious crimes like assault and drug offences, at this point. Summary cases, including common assault, domestic abuse, crimes of dishonesty and motoring offences, are also facing delays. Figures from March this year show more than 20,600 cases still waiting, nearly 50 per cent higher than predicted in 2021. The Scottish Police Federation has warned that delays and collapsed trials are wasting valuable resources and draining frontline capacity. An SCTS spokesman said: 'We remain conscious of the impact delays in the criminal justice system have on victims and witnesses. 'That is why our focus has been on striving to reduce the number of cases in the system and the length of time people wait for the outcome of a case. 'SCTS advised the criminal justice committee in December 2021 that we anticipated the backlog created by the Covid-19 pandemic would be cleared by 2026. 'Since then, and through our strong criminal court recovery programme, the number of scheduled trials has reduced from over 43,000 in January 2022 to under 18,000 at the end of June 2025. That is the fewest number of planned scheduled trials since 2018/19. 'However we are now dealing with a substantial increase in High Court business - the most serious criminal cases - which places pressure on a system with finite capacity. 'High Court scheduled trials at the end of June 2025 number 818, far higher than the pre pandemic position of 390. This means maintaining increased capacity is essential to prevent delays for all who use the system.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Scotland is the only part of the UK to have successfully brought court backlog levels back down to below Covid levels - a testament to our comprehensive approach and substantial investment in recovery funding of over £201 million since 2021, which includes £20.3 million to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service in 2025/26. 'This trend is continuing and we remain committed to supporting justice partners to maintain this progress.'
