Case against Ong Beng Seng moves forward with first pre-trial conference held

SINGAPORE: Shortly after he returned from an overseas trip,  the billionaire businessman Ong Beng Song faced the first pre-trial conference on Nov 15 (Friday).

On Oct 4, he was charged with abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts and obstructing justice. The charges against him involve one count under Section 165 of the Penal Code and another under Section 204A.

Mr Ong is best known for bringing F1 to the country, launching the Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. Being a friend of F1 boss Bernie Eccleston, Mr Ong helped seal the deal in 2007 that brought the race to Singapore.

He was arrested on July 11, 2023, in connection with the scandal involving former Transport Minister S Iswaran, who had originally been slapped with 27 charges, including corruption.

The charges were amended to receiving gifts while in office, to which Iswaran pleaded guilty on Sept 24. He began serving his one-year jail term on Oct 7.

Ong had reportedly told Iswaran that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had taken the flight manifest for a trip he took in Dec 2022, which caused the former minister to have Ong send him the bill for the flight to avoid investigations.

According to a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report, Mr Ong has not yet indicated how he will plead his case, whether he will enter a guilty plea or claim trial.

The pre-trial conference was held in chambers before District Judge Chee Min Ping.

The defence will need to make representations, which are letters sent to the Attorney-General’s Chambers regarding criminal investigations or proceedings, by Nov 29. The prosecution will have until Dec 20 to reply to them.

The next pre-trial conference for the case has been scheduled for Jan 3, 2025, CNA added.

Should Ong be found guilty of having abetted Iswaran in obtaining valuables, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both jailed and fined.

If convicted of obstructing justice, he could be jailed for as long as seven years, fined, or both.

On Oct 30, Ong was allowed to take a 10-day trip to the United States and Europe for business and medical reasons. He paid S$800,000 in cash bail on top of the S$800,000 in bail he previously paid, forking out a total of S$1.6 million.

His lawyer, Aaron Lee from Allen & Gledhill, said that Ong would head to Boston, Massachusetts, for medical treatment and then to Gibraltar and Spain for business. /TISG

Read also: Court allows Ong Beng Seng to leave Singapore for medical and work trip on additional S$800K bail