Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty
SINGAPORE - A day before billionaire Ong Beng Seng was scheduled to plead guilty on July 3, the court hearing date was rescheduled to a pre-trial conference on July 8.
Court records on July 2 show the court granted an application to reschedule the hearing date.
The Straits Times has contacted the court for the reason behind the postponement.
The property tycoon was charged on Oct 4, 2024, with abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts and with abetting the obstruction of justice.
Under Section 165, it is an offence for a public servant to accept anything of value from any person with whom he is involved in an official capacity without payment or with inadequate payment.
Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) where Ong was managing director, said in an announcement on the Singapore Exchange in February that he intends to plead guilty to the obstruction charge and consents to having the other charge taken into consideration for sentencing.
According to court documents, the businessman had in December 2022 allegedly arranged for former transport minister S. Iswaran to fly on Ong's private plane from Singapore to Doha. The flight was valued at US$7,700 (S$10,400).
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 3 out of 4 in Singapore cannot identify deepfake content: Cyber Security Agency survey
Singapore New $7.5m fund to encourage social service agencies to track impact of their programmes
Singapore GrabCab, Singapore's newest taxi operator, hits the roads with over 40 cabs to be rolled out in July
Life Star Awards 2025: Xiang Yun and Chen Hanwei are the most decorated actors in show's 30-year history
World Paramount settles with Trump over '60 Minutes' Harris interview for $20 million
Asia Dalai Lama says he will have successor after his death
Business Cathay Cineplexes gets demand for $3.4 million in arrears from Jem landlord
Singapore Man charged over allegedly receiving scam proceeds of more than $1.5m in his firm's bank accounts
Ong allegedly arranged for Mr Iswaran a one-night stay at Four Seasons Hotel Doha, valued at $4,737.63, and a business-class flight from Doha to Singapore, valued at $5,700.
Court documents showed it was allegedly Ong who alerted Mr Iswaran that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had seized the flight manifest for the December 2022 trip. It prompted Mr Iswaran to ask the tycoon to bill him for the flight to avoid investigations.
For this alleged offence, Ong was charged with the abetment of obstruction of justice.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
37 minutes ago
- Straits Times
US hiring beats expectations in June despite tariff worries
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Job growth came in at 147,000 in June, rising from a 144,000 figure in May – which was also revised upwards. - The US economy added more jobs than expected in June while the unemployment rate edged down, government data showed on July 3, offering signs of continued labour market strength despite worries over President Donald Trump's tariffs. Job growth came in at 147,000 in June, rising from a 144,000 figure in May – which was also revised upwards – said the Department of Labour. The unemployment rate ticked down from 4.2 per cent to 4.1 per cent, and wage gains decelerated to 0.2 per cent, the report added. The world's biggest economy has fared relatively well since the Covid-19 pandemic, with a resilient job market allowing consumers to keep spending. But Mr Trump's sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, including steep rates on imports of steel, aluminium and autos, have dragged on consumer sentiment and fuelled business uncertainty. That uncertainty has been accentuated by the US leader's approach of unveiling, then adjusting or halting measures – causing firms to become cautious in investments. With a further wave of tariff hikes potentially incoming next week, analysts are monitoring for fragility in the job market and signs that companies might pull back in hiring and expansion. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 193ha of land off Changi to be reclaimed for aviation park; area reduced to save seagrass meadow Business More Singapore residents met CPF Required Retirement Sum when they turned 55 in 2024 Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, WP says PAP opposing for the sake of opposing Singapore 1 in 4 appeals to waive HDB wait-out period for private home owners approved since Sept 2022 World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Singapore Healthcare facility planned for site of Ang Mo Kio Public Library after it moves to AMK Hub Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches new innovation centre here A consensus forecast by had expected overall job growth of 120,000. In June, the state government and health care sectors added jobs while the federal government continued shedding roles, the Labour Department said July 3. The federal government lost 7,000 jobs and employment is down by 69,000 since reaching a recent peak in January, the report added. But salary growth appears to be cooling, from a 0.4 per cent month-on-month increase in May to 0.2 per cent in June. From a year ago, wage gains were up 3.7 per cent, easing from the prior month as well. But the figures will bring relief to observers worried after data from payroll firm ADP sparked alarm July 2, as it reported that the private sector unexpectedly shed jobs. It is not uncommon for the ADP report to diverge from official figures, but analysts believe it can help understand the longer-term trajectory of the labor market. ADP noted July 2 that although layoffs were rare, there remains a hesitancy to hire and replace departing workers. For now, a solid labour market is likely to give the US central bank some room to hold interest rates steady for longer as policymakers observe the effects of Mr Trump's tariffs over the summer – and whether they will fuel broad inflation. If the labour market weakened too quickly, the Federal Reserve could be inclined to lower rates sooner to boost the economy, even if inflation were not progressing downwards as swiftly as hoped. AFP
New Paper
an hour ago
- New Paper
Ground sensors on roadside parking spaces could make payments automatic under new URA pilot project
Paying for roadside parking might become automatic in the future, if a planned trial to install sensors on the ground goes well. These sensors embedded in the ground would be able to detect when a car drives into or leaves a roadside parking space, and communicate with the vehicle's on-board unit (OBU) via Bluetooth technology. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) called a tender on May 6 for proposals to study the effectiveness of such a system. The agency told The Straits Times on May 29 that the study aims to test the viability of using Bluetooth communications to facilitate automated payment for roadside parking to make it more convenient for motorists. These sensors would be flat and easily driven over by vehicles. Currently, motorists pay for roadside parking either with paper parking coupons, or through the app. This URA study is separate from other plans by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to also use the OBU for payments for roadside parking. This feature, which the LTA intends to roll out when most vehicles have OBUs fitted, will require motorists to use the OBU's touchscreen display to start the parking session. The parking session ends automatically when the vehicle is driven out of the parking space. LTA said that it will "work with URA to review the outcome of this study in assessing any future deployment plans". Across the island, URA manages approximately 13,000 roadside parking spaces. For this trial, URA intends to select a contractor and conduct a reliability test at Changi Beach Car Park 5 from October 2025 to July 2026. It also intends to carry out an operational pilot at carparks in Chinatown, Keong Saik and Bukit Timah from August 2026 to July 2027. According to tender documents published on government procurement portal GeBiz, the 10-month reliability test will need to be conducted on four vehicle types: passenger sedans, light goods vehicles such as lorries, heavy vehicles such as prime movers, as well as buses with 23 or more seats. URA did not comment on why it excluded motorcycles from the trial. For the 12-month operational pilot, the authority noted that the three carpark locations were chosen because it is possible to put in the sensors at these places for the trial while having them remain accessible to motorists. "We do not expect any disruptions to parking operations," said the URA spokesperson. ST understands that there will be no automated payments triggered in the study. The tender closes at 4pm on Aug 21, and the contract will be awarded by October 2025. Asked about when it hopes to roll out these parking sensors on a wider scale, URA said it will review the outcome of the study and other parallel initiatives in assessing future deployment plans. Motorists and operators whom ST spoke to mostly welcomed this new initiative, although some raised concerns. Mr Davidson Chua, 25, said that such a system could "remove the hassle" of manually starting a carpark session when he is in a rush. The business co-founder also hopes that the system would be able to inform motorists of the availability of parking spaces in the area. But Mr Chua noted that some motorists may be unhappy with this new initiative, as they can no longer "game the system" by avoiding payments whenever they can. Mr Lim Kian Chin, the managing director of Allied Container Group, a firm with a fleet of more than 80 lorries and prime movers, said that data collected from these sensors may improve land resource planning as the agency will know how well used parking spaces are and decide how best to use the available space. But Mr Lim, who is also chairman of the Singapore Transport Association, said that it may be troublesome for truck and lorry drivers who often temporarily park their vehicles at roadside parking spaces to run quick errands, such as delivering goods to the service counter of a building. As at June, over 500,000 vehicles have been fitted with new OBU, which is part of the new satellite-based Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system known as ERP 2.0. These OBUs are capable of determining a vehicle's location and processing ERP charges. They can provide motorists with more information like real-time traffic alerts of road closures and accidents. The installation of the new OBUs in Singapore-registered vehicles is targeted to be completed by 2026.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Trump tariffs: US announces deal to lower levies on Vietnam to 20% from 46%
China has warned against trade deals that hurt what it calls "third parties", a pointed message just hours after the US sealed an agreement with Vietnam. The new deal slashes tariffs on Vietnamese exports to 20 per cent, down from the 46 per cent Washington had initially threatened. But it also includes a steeper 40 per cent levy, targeting goods originating elsewhere but shipped through Vietnam - an indirect hit at Chinese products. Jagruti Dave reports from Washington DC.
