Ong Beng Seng, a Singapore-based billionaire hotelier and architect of the city state’s Formula One Grand Prix, was fined S$30,000 (US$23,400) on Friday over a charge of abetting former transport minister S. Iswaran in a gifts scandal.
Ong, a 79-year-old Malaysian national, earlier this month pleaded guilty to the charge of abetting Iswaran in obstructing justice, admitting to relaying sensitive information about an ongoing anti-corruption investigation to the then minister.
The case has riveted Singapore, a nation that consistently tops global anti-corruption rankings and prides itself on the probity of its public officials, who are among the world’s best paid.
On Friday, Principal District Judge Lee Lit Cheng found that judicial mercy applied in this case and sentenced Ong, who wore a mask to court, to the maximum fine that the State Courts can impose.
Lee noted that there was undisputed medical evidence that established that Ong suffered from advanced multiple myeloma cancer, and a jail term would carry a “high and increased risk of endangering his life”.
Ong did not respond to questions from the media as he left the State Courts.
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