SINGAPORE, Oct 4 — Singaporean prosecutors will charge the chairman of the Singapore GP Pte Ltd Ong Beng Seng today over the corruption scandal that brought down one of the republic’s former ministers, S. Iswaran, who was yesterday sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
According to The Straits Times, the Malaysian billionaire based in Singapore is expected to be charged with abetting corruption and obstruction of justice.
The property magnate was arrested by anti-corruption investigators in the republic on July 11, 2023, as part of the probe into the corruption involving Iswaran.
Iswaran pled guilty last month to charges that included accepting gifts and favours from Ong, including an all-expense-paid trip to Doha.
Ong was reportedly the person who had tipped Iswaran off to a possible Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigation into their dealings, after the agency confiscated documents that detailed the 2022 Doha vacation.
Iswaran reportedly asked Ong then to “bill” him for the flight, ostensibly to try and hide that it was a gift.
The 78-year-old Malaysian billionaire is credited with bringing the Formula 1 race to Singapore in 2008, which was also the first night race in the history of the motor sport.
On the other side, the former minister had chaired Singapore’s F1 steering committee and was in charge of negotiating with Ong’s firm on commercial aspects of the event.