The billionaire hotelier charged over Iswaran’s case: Who is Ong Beng Seng?

This article was updated on Oct 4, 2024.
SINGAPORE: Property tycoon, hotelier and the man who brought Formula 1 to Singapore – billionaire Ong Beng Seng was charged with two offences on Friday (Oct 4). 
The 78-year-old owner of Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) was handed one charge each under Section 165 and Section 204A of the Penal Code.
Section 165 relates to a public servant obtaining valuables while Section 204A is for obstruction of justice. 
Ong was one of the two businessmen from whom former transport minister S Iswaran obtained gifts of more than S$403,000.
Here’s what is known about Singapore-based Malaysian billionaire.
Ong Beng Seng, known widely as OBS, was born in 1946 in Sabah, Malaysia.
He was born into a wealthy family and they moved to Singapore in 1950 when he was four years old, according to the New Straits Times.
In the early 1970s, he earned his first fortune selling shipping insurance. In 1975, Ong joined Kuo International, an oil trading firm started by his father-in-law, Peter Fu Yun Siak.
He formed HPL in 1981 to lead Kuo International’s acquisition of hotels and other properties. The year after, the company was listed in Singapore.
HPL owns and operates hotels under the brands of Four Seasons, COMO Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Six Senses, Marriott International, Hard Rock Hotels and Concorde, as well as malls that include Forum shopping mall.
The businesses span the globe, with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia, Seychelles, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vanuatu, Bhutan, Tanzania, South Africa, Italy and Sri Lanka.
His wife Christina Ong, who is Singaporean, runs Como Hotels & Resorts, retail empire Club 21 and London-listed handbag maker Mulberry.
The couple was ranked 24th richest in Singapore last year and estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of US$1.75 billion (S$2.3 billion). 
Ong is the man behind Singapore GP, which brought the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore in 2008 – the very first night race in F1 history. 
The race has been held annually in Singapore except for a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It returned in October 2022 with a new deal signed for Singapore to host the night race for another seven years through 2028.
Last May, HPL, in partnership with units of Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek, also bought the real estate assets of Singapore Press Holdings for US$2.8 billion.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, HPL is opening new hotels and resorts around the world.
They include this year’s opening of the Kanuhura Maldives which comprises 81 villas on Lhaviyani Atoll. The company also plans to open a 150-room hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia next year.
In 1996, Ong made the news for the transactions of four condominiums by then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at Nassim Jade and Scotts 28.
Unsolicited discounts of 5 per cent to 12 per cent were given to units bought in their name at the luxury developments along Nassim Road and Scotts Road. It was determined at the time that the property purchases were above board and the discounts were given to early birds.
The matter was aired in parliament and both ministers were cleared of any suspicion by then-PM Goh Chok Tong. The discounted sums were donated to charity.
In 2018, Ong was also linked to a scheme by then-Maldives president Abdulla Yameen to lease out dozens of Maldives islands and lagoons to tourism developers without public tender.
It was reported that Ong offered luxury accommodation to the Maldives president and vice-president while HPL was negotiating for at least two islands.
Iswaran was sentenced to 12 months’ jail on Oct 3, 2024 for obtaining gifts worth about S$403,300 from Ong and another businessman. 
Ong’s gifts to the former minister included tickets to musicals, football matches and Formula 1 races.
Iswaran pleaded guilty to four charges of attaining valuable things as a public servant and one charge of obstruction of justice.
Ong was charged on Oct 4 with abetting Iswaran to obtain two flights and a hotel stay in Doha, Qatar, worth a total of about S$20,848.
He is also charged with abetting Iswaran to obstruct the course of justice.