Tycoon Ong Beng Seng convicted in corruption case

A billionaire hotel businessman has requested Guilty for removing crimes in a rare corruption case who caught Singapore and landed a former minister in jail.

Ong Beng Seng is accused of giving expensive gifts, including a ride for former-transport minister Subramanian Ishveran on Formula 1 Grand Prix, Hotel Stay, and a private jet, while he was engaged in the official business.

In Singapore, ministers cannot keep gifts unless they pay the market value of the gift, and they have to declare anything from the people they have with business behavior.

The case shook many people in Singapore, which is a financial hub that is proud of a clean image itself.

Both people were arrested in a rare corruption scam in July 2023, which caught the country.

Charged sheets revealed that Ishwaran was gifted more than S $ 403,000 ($ 311,882; £ 234,586), staying in hotels, music and grand pricks tickets.

Singapore MPs are the highest paid in the world, some ministers earned over $ 1 million ($ 758,000). Leaders justify the beautiful salary by saying that it combates corruption.

Shri Ong helped to bring Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore and his company Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) has brands like Four Seasons and Hard Rock Hotel.

At the time of crime, Istavaran was in the main negotiator on the government’s F1 Steering Committee and F1 on business matters.

Shri Ong has been accused of abolishing Iswaran in obtaining all the expenses paid to Doha, stating that S is around 20,850 ($ 16,188; £ 12,194).

He is also accused of removing the obstruction of justice by helping Ishweran to pay the Singapore Grand Prix for a business flight ticket from Doha to Singapore.

He faces a prison of up to two years to release a public servant in receiving the gift, while the maximum jail term to eradicate justice is seven years.

Born in 1946 in Malaysia, Sri Ong moved to Singapore as a child and established a hotel and property company in the 1980s.

Mr. Ong is a rare bone marrow cancer, and the court first allowed him to travel abroad for medical and work purposes.

His company, Hotel Properties Limited, first said in April that Ong would step down as its managing director “manage his medical conditions”.