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).
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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.
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