Singapore has charged billionaire property tycoon Ong Beng Seng with abetting a minister as part of a corruption scandal that has tainted the city-state’s reputation for clean governance.
Ong, 78, was charged with two offences of abetting former transport minister S Iswaran to obtain gifts and obstruct justice, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said on Friday. Ong did not enter a plea, local media reported.
The indictment against Ong comes one day after Iswaran was sentenced to a one-year jail term for accepting gifts valued at more than $300,000 and obstructing justice. He became the first Singaporean minister to be imprisoned in nearly 50 years.