Ong Beng Seng to be sentenced on Aug 15 for abetting obstruction of justice
Ong is expected to be sentenced on Aug 15. His bail of $800,000 has been extended.
The prosecution acknowledged that while eight weeks imprisonment would ordinarily be warranted, judicial mercy should be exercised in this case due to Ong's incurable medical conditions.
Imprisonment would thus result in an increased risk of endangering his life, added the prosecuting team.
In 2020, Ong was diagnosed with advanced multiple myeloma, a cancer which affects his white blood cells that are crucial to the body's immune response.
His lawyer, Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull, said Ong suffers from a devastating cocktail of medical problems, and imprisoning him would dramatically increase life-threatening risks for him.
Ong's hearing on Aug 4 was delayed after two fire alarms went off just as the case was about to begin. The first was triggered the moment Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng walked into the room.
After a delay of almost an hour, the statement of facts detailing Ong's offences were read out by the prosecution in a packed courtroom.
Addressing the court on Ong's abetment of obstruction of justice offence, the prosecuting team said Ong asked Mr Iswaran in December 2022 if the former minister would like to join Ong on a trip to Qatar.
Ong told Mr Iswaran he would be his guest and travelling on his private jet. The businessman added he would take care of all of Mr Iswaran's expenses for the trip, including his hotel accommodation.
Mr Iswaran accepted Ong's offer.
On Dec 10, 2022, Mr Iswaran travelled to Doha, Qatar, on Ong's private jet, with the flight valued at around US$7,700 (S$10,410).
Mr Iswaran checked into the Four Seasons Hotel, which cost $4,737.63 for a one-night stay.
The prosecution said Mr Iswaran did not pay for his flight to Doha or hotel accommodation, and the hotel accommodation was paid for by Singapore GP on Ong's instructions.
After one night in Doha, Mr Iswaran returned to Singapore on a business class flight valued at $5,700, which Singapore GP also paid for.
The prosecution said: "Iswaran did not declare to the Government of Singapore that he had obtained the outbound flight on the accused's private jet, the hotel accommodation at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, or the Doha-SG Flight ticket from the accused."
In May 2023, while the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was investigating a separate matter relating to Ong's associates, it came across the flight manifest of the outbound flight on Ong's private jet which Mr Iswaran took to Doha.
On May 18, Ong was informed by his associates that CPIB had seized the flight manifest which had details of the Doha trip.
Ong spoke to Mr Iswaran over the phone and told him CPIB had the flight manifest.
Mr Iswaran asked Ong to have Singapore GP bill him for the Doha trip, including the flight to Singapore on Dec 11, 2022.
Ong agreed and had Singapore GP director Mok Chee Liang to arrange for the payment, and told Mr Mok to keep proper records of this.
On May 24, 2023, Mr Mok emailed Mr Iswaran's personal assistant with an invoice for the flight from Doha to Singapore.
Mr Iswaran then issued a cheque for $5,700 to Singapore GP, which the prosecution said 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.
The prosecution said Ong also knew that Mr Iswaran's act of making payment for the flight from Doha to Singapore was likely to obstruct the course of justice.
On Oct 3, 2024, Mr Iswaran was handed a jail term of 12 months after he pleaded guilty to five charges, including four for obtaining valuable items as a public servant.
Prosecution does not object to fine for Ong
The prosecution team, led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Christopher Ong, said judicial mercy should be exercised due to the severity of Ong's medical conditions.
Judicial mercy is the discretionary power of Singapore's courts to give a more lenient sentence because of exceptional mitigating circumstances. It has a high threshold and has so far been exercised in only two types of situations.
The first is where the offender is suffering from a terminal illness, while the second is where the offender is so ill that jail time would carry a high risk of endangering his life.
The prosecution said Ong's actions in the crime were serious, as it could have impeded CPIB's investigations.
The prosecution also explained why Ong's case qualified for judicial mercy to be applied.
"Treatment is continuous to delay relapse, but the disease will eventually progress, requiring a change in treatment, and eventually patients will die from refractory disease," said the prosecution.
"The accused also has peripheral vascular disease of both feet, with a non-healing toe wound that places him at risk of infection and gangrene."
In a lengthy mitigation, SC Bull said the cancer has compromised Ong's spine, and a metal rod has been inserted in it.
If infected, the result would be catastrophic, he added.
Besides the risk of infection, SC Bull said the medical condition has had a destructive impact on Ong's skeletal system.
While showing a radiology photo to Judge Lee, SC Bull said the cancer had hollowed out his spinal vertebrae.
While showing a radiology photo to Judge Lee, SC Bull said the cancer had hollowed out his spinal vertebrae.
This means that the strength of Ong's spine has been so compromised, any fall or injury could result in permanent disability or life-threatening injury.
Those convicted of the abetment of obstruction of justice can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
12 hours ago
- Business Times
Why Asia's ‘scamdemic' is everyone's problem
What do a Chinese actor, an Illinois widow and a young Vietnamese man have in common? They're all victims of scams – once an annoying and seemingly random crime that has scaled up into a global business that cost the world US$1 trillion last year. The breadth of the industry stretches far and wide, stemming from forced labour gulags in the grey-zone borderlands of South-east Asia. This is a crisis run by international crime syndicates that no single nation can solve, despite many previous efforts. Ending it will require the US and China to put rivalry aside and cooperate in a region where they both exercise huge influence. The alternative? This shadowy industry will only grow bolder, and harder to stop. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted why clamping down is essential during the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering in Kuala Lumpur last month. Victims, he said, include both Americans and Asians. He indicated that more measures to address the issue would be discussed in their next gathering in October, ahead of a summit to be attended by President Donald Trump. Washington should treat this as an urgent priority in a region where it has so many key allies and partners. South-east Asia is ground zero for what is being called a 'scamdemic'. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has pointed to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines as centres of this global fraud. Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked and forced into working these scams. Most are men from Asia, but some have come from as far away as Africa and Latin America. Many fell for fake job offers and ended up as modern-day slaves. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up They often work from fenced compounds and barred-up rooms under the threat of torture, compelled to fleece unsuspecting targets until they find a victim anywhere in the world. One Vietnamese man escaped from a centre in the Philippines by climbing a wall, crossing a river and eventually seeking shelter at a farm. Police found electrocution scars on him. On the other side are the marks. Lulled into a false sense of trust over digital communications with people they never see, they fall prey to cyberfraud or romance scams designed to persuade them to move savings into fraudulent schemes. Fake crypto assets are common. Others are 'pig butchered' – fattened up for slaughter – in a euphemism for an investment scam where fraudsters gain their confidence over time, and persuade them into investing away their fortunes. That is what happened to Erika DeMask, a widow from Illinois, who thought she had finally found love again, only to lose her life savings – almost a million dollars – over a period of several months. Her online boyfriend told her he loved her, even once sending her a bouquet of flowers. At first, the requests for money came slowly – but soon grew to tens of thousands of dollars. DeMask faced financial ruin, forced to sell her family home. Shutting scam factories is like playing whack-a-mole – dismantle one and another pops up. Asean has tried to coordinate efforts before, but with minimal success. Its traditional policy of non-interference in the affairs of member states clashes with the need to address these scam farms, Asha Hemrajani, senior fellow at the Singapore-based S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told me. 'Many of the victims are Americans or Chinese,' she said. 'So it would make sense for the two superpowers to work together to stamp out this scourge.' US citizens are among the top global targets, with an estimated US$5 billion lost to online scams in 2024 alone – a 42 per cent increase over the previous year, notes a new report by a commission created by the US Congress that reviews economic and security relations with China. Across South-east Asia, hotels, casinos and private compounds that were left abandoned after the pandemic have been transformed into scam farms, run by mainly Chinese criminal networks. The report alleged that the shadowy organisations behind them have unspecified ties to the Chinese government, expanding across the region with, at a minimum, tacit approval from elements of the Communist Party. Beijing denies explicit involvement, while insisting that it is fully committed to tackling the problem. In a statement in January, the Ministry of Public Security said that it 'will continue to maintain a high-pressure crackdown on cross-border telecommunications network fraud crimes'; increase international cooperation; 'make every effort to destroy overseas... fraud dens; arrest the 'financial sponsors' and backbones of criminal groups'; and free trapped people. The government does intervene when it believes the damage to national interests has reached boiling point. Typically, this is when criminal syndicates hurt Chinese citizens overseas – as was the case in a high-profile disappearance of actor Wang Xing in a town in Thailand bordering Myanmar earlier this year. He was later rescued by Thai police from a scam centre where he had been lured by human traffickers. China has urged people to beware of fake overseas job offers that could lead to human trafficking for scam-farm employment. The Hong Kong government has issued a similar warning. For its part, the US could train South-east Asian police to combat cyber and cryptocurrency crimes carried out by transnational syndicates, using experience gained from fighting against narcotics organisations in Latin America. Providing human-rights training to assist in protecting trafficked victims would help. China has more leverage. Its relationships with Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos position it to crack down on scam hubs far more effectively. There is precedent – Beijing has worked with both the Myanmar military and anti-junta rebels against crime networks. Joint law enforcement cooperation with the US could amplify those efforts. Washington and Beijing may be locked in a bitter trade war, but they have put that aside in the past to combat flows of fentanyl into the US. Finding common ground against scammers stealing from grandmothers should not be such a stretch. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Straits Times
Some Kenyan runners see doping as a path to glory, and to basic sustenance
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Runners go to Iten for access to competition, coaching talent and the benefit of training in thin air, all to try to earn riches from running. – Thousands of feet above the Great Rift Valley that runs through East Africa, the small city of Iten, Kenya, calls itself the 'Home of Champions'. It has long produced and attracted world-class running talent, its high altitude and red dirt roads a training ground for thousands. The town also has a far less laudatory reputation. It is a well-documented centre of a doping crisis that shows little sign of being tamed. Runners come here for access to competition, coaching talent and the benefit of training in thin air, all to try to earn riches from running. Many Kenyans who try to join the elite endure cramped and dirty living conditions, little food and separation from their families in service of their ambitions. In a region where the average annual income is the equivalent of little more than US$2,000 (S$2,590) and the competition so intense, the potentially life-changing lure of banned substances, referred to locally as 'the medicine', is obvious. A few thousand dollars in prize money or participation in a single overseas race can be the difference between runners and their families eating three meals a day and scratching around for the next bite. They calculate that doping is worth the risks not only of getting caught, but also of damaging their health and, in some cases, even dying. In that environment, the doping industry has flourished, with pharmacies in the region's healthcare hub city of Eldoret said to serve as a conduit for performance-enhancing substances. The crisis pulls together extreme poverty, money-making opportunity, corruption and a region overflowing with running talent that makes getting an edge harder than just about anywhere. 'This economic reality means the high-risk situation is always going to be impossible to completely eradicate,' said Brett Clothier, the head of global track and field's unit responsible for anti-doping efforts. Many runners and coaches suspect that their rivals dope and they point to the roster of athletes barred from international competitive racing. Kenya has the most names on the list. Some of Kenya's most prominent runners have been caught doping and barred from competition. The women's marathon world-record holder, Ruth Chepngetich, who is from the Rift Valley, was suspended in July after testing positive for a prohibited substance. International officials have made headway. Kenyans are now among the most-tested athletes anywhere, Clothier said, adding that as widespread as the doping is, it was far worse a few years ago. Yet, global anti-doping bodies suspect that policing efforts may be touching only the edges of a cheating epidemic. Officials in Kenya responsible for tackling doping have been caught taking bribes. The scale of the problem prompted track and field's governing body to threaten to ban Kenya from global competition unless its government committed to spending US$25 million to fight doping, a staggering amount in the anti-doping world. 'We have to teach them a different way of seeing things, that using illegitimate means of doing well is not going to help them in the long run. It damages their health and they might not be successful,' said Barnabas Korir, an executive committee member of Kenya's athletics federation who also sits on a multi-agency anti-doping body. 'It's a matter of changing the whole attitude.' To beat the competition and earn life-changing income, which could mean as little as US$5,000 or US$10,000 a year, doping is an attractive proposition. Over the past decade, Alfred, an athlete who acknowledged using banned drugs, achieved success in modest races. The income, he said, allowed him to provide a home for his immediate family and his mother, who had been living in the mud-and-thatch house where he was raised. Doping was the only route he saw to a better life, said Alfred, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition his last name not be used. Getting access to banned substances is straightforward. Pharmacies line the streets of Eldoret, a city of about a half million and the region's principal commercial hub, about a 30-minute drive from Iten. Runners can procure just about anything they need to boost performance. For those who cannot pay, some pharmacists or doctors will strike deals for a percentage of future earnings. The authorities' crackdown also took aim at drug suppliers, while blanket testing is the latest tool that officials have devised to catch cheats in Iten. Often, Kenyans and others taking drugs show little regard for the physical risks, such as dangerously elevated heart rates, kidney and liver disease, and even death. In the fall of 2024, at the same Iten track, a 20-year-old man trying out for an American college scholarship collapsed and died after a 3,000m trial, news reports said. He is one of many young Kenyan athletes to die while running. The causes of death have been hard for athletics officials to determine because they have been unable to get access to autopsy results. 'If someone drops dead like that, an athlete who is fit, a young one, there has to be a reason,' said Korir, the Kenyan official. 'It can't be someone just drops dead.' NYTIMES
Business Times
15 hours ago
- Business Times
Shares of HPL close 0.7% higher; investors unfazed by founder Ong Beng Seng's guilty plea
[SINGAPORE] Shares of Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL) ended its session on Monday (Aug 4) 0.7 per cent or S$0.04 up at S$5.50, following its founder Ong Beng Seng pleading guilty at his trial for obstruction of justice. The counter had tumbled in early trade on Monday, but pared losses following the property magnate's plea in a criminal case involving the Formula 1 (F1) night race and former transport minister S Iswaran. As at 9.46 am, HPL shares had tumbled S$0.07 or 1.3 per cent to S$5.39 from its opening price of S$5.46 amid a strong showing by the wider market. By 11.45 am, it had recovered to S$5.46, unchanged from Friday's close, with 59,000 shares traded. At 1.28 pm, the stock was trading 1.1 per cent or S$0.06 higher at S$5.52, after 88,800 securities changed hands, and reached S$5.58 at 2.57 pm. It later eased to S$5.53 by 3.47 pm. At Monday's trial, Ong admitted to instructing Singapore GP director Mok Chee Liang to bill Iswaran for the business-class ticket from Doha to Singapore in May 2023, as reported by The Business Times. He was charged for obstruction of justice. This is part of the Malaysian businessman's involvement with Iswaran in a high-profile obstruction of justice case, involving the F1 night race. Iswaran was handed on Oct 3, 2024, a 12-month jail sentence , after pleading guilty to four charges under Section 165 and one for obstruction of justice. He is the first former Cabinet minister to receive such a sentence. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Tuesday, 12 pm Property Insights Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond. Sign Up Sign Up Under Section 165, public servants are prohibited from accepting valuable items for free or inadequate payment from someone connected to business transactions or proceedings they handle. According to the prosecution, eight weeks of jail time for Ong would have been warranted. However, judicial mercy should be exercised in this case due to the severe health condition of advanced multiple myeloma, a form of white blood cell cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2020. A maximum fine is sought by the prosecution instead. Ong's defence also noted the severe risks of his condition, where imprisonment could put his fragile life in danger, noting that a 'stiff fine' would be appropriate. Earlier in April 2025, the business tycoon stepped down as managing director of HPL to tend to his health issues. It was announced that he would also not seek re-election as a director at the company's annual general meeting on Apr 29. Since Ong's exit, HPL's share price has soared more than 50 per cent from S$3.60 on Apr 17. Ong faces sentencing on Aug 15, which was set by Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng, and is expected to return to court at 2.30 pm on the day. The billionaire and his wife Christina hold about 60 per cent of HPL, the company's latest annual report indicated. Founded in 1980, HPL's early ventures included the Hilton Singapore hotel, which Ong bought for S$72 million . The property conglomerate has interests in hotel ownership, management and operations, property development, and investment holdings. Its market capitalisation stands at nearly S$2.9 billion to date. HPL owns a large number of properties in Singapore along Orchard Road such as Forum The Shopping Mall, voco Orchard Singapore and HPL House, in addition to Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall at Dhoby Ghaut.
