Ong Beng Seng to plead guilty on Aug 4 over trip to Qatar with Iswaran

He will have charge of abetting ex-minister in obtaining gifts taken into consideration

- Samuel Devaraj

It was discovered by chance in May 2023, as the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was probing a separate matter.

Investigators found the manifest of a private plane while looking into associates of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owned the aircraft.

One name stood out in particular - Mr S. Iswaran's. He was a close friend of Ong's, with the pair going back about two decades.

The two men had travelled together on Dec 10, 2022, after the then Transport Minister accepted the billionaire's invitation for an all-expenses-paid trip to Qatar.

They flew there on the private plane, with Mr Iswaran returning the next day on a business-class flight.

The trip sparked a separate investigation by CPIB, which eventually led to the conviction on Oct 3, 2024, of a former Cabinet minister, a first in Singapore.

After several hearing adjournments, and more than two years after the discovery of the flight manifest, Ong is finally slated to plead guilty on Aug 4 to abetment of obstruction of justice, a charge related to the trip.

The 79-year-old businessman had earlier indicated that he will consent to having a second charge - of abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts - taken into consideration for sentencing.

Prosecutors will claim that it was Ong who allegedly alerted Mr Iswaran to the fact that CPIB had seized the flight manifest.

It was this alert which led to Mr Iswaran, 63, requesting a bill for the $5,700 business-class flight from Doha to Singapore on Dec 11, 2022.