Ong Beng Seng, the billionaire property tycoon who was a driving force behind the creation of the Singapore Grand Prix, has been issued a notice of arrest.
His arrest has come about as part of an investigation of Singapore’s minister for transport S Iswaran. Both are significant figures in the organisation of the race, though there has been no indication the investigation relates to the grand prix.Iswaran was instructed to take a leave of absence from his position on Wednesday by Singapore’s prime minister. Local media have described the investigation into Iswaran as one of the most significant corruption probes for decades.
A statement issued by the Board of Directors of Ong’s Hotel Properties Limited company said it “has been notified by Mr Ong Beng Seng, managing director of the company, that he has been requested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (“CPIB”) to provide information in relation to his interactions with Minister S Iswaran. Mr Ong has further updated the Board as set out below.”
HPL noted that “no charges have been filed against Mr Ong” who is travelling today and will hand his passport to the CPIB when he returns to Singapore. He has paid a bail fee of SIN$ 100,000 (£57,000).
Seng’s properties include a number of hotels in Singapore. He collaborated with former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone on the creation of the grand prix 15 years ago, which brought the championship to Singapore and established its first night race.
Formula 1 agreed a contract extension with the Singapore Grand Prix last year, securing its place on the calendar until 2028. This year’s race will take place on September 17th.
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Coventry Climax
14th July 2023, 11:01
Is there a -justified- corruption case? Might well be.
Is China yet again attempting to expand it’s power? Might well be.
A flaw in ‘new and improved’ AI algorithms? Might well be.
Words like “Local media have described the investigation into Iswaran as one of the most significant corruption probes for decades” have little meaning these days.
More and more people shut down from things like this, which is maybe the intention of it all in the first place.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
14th July 2023, 11:03
“China yet again attempting to expand it’s power”
which worldwide superpower doesn’t attempt to expand it’s power?
Coventry Climax
14th July 2023, 11:19
True, exchange ‘China’ for any superpower. But the point is that that doesn’t change the meaning and context.
Sandwhichands
14th July 2023, 11:54
Hey mate, can you explain the specifics link between china and him for those of us who don’t know?
Coventry Climax
14th July 2023, 17:20
Nope, it’s the concept behind it. Can you prove China’s involvement in espionage through TikTok? Same thing.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th July 2023, 12:20
When I saw the headline, I immediately got a deja vu Vietnamese GP feeling since that event fell down because a key individual behind that project ended up in corruption.
Hopefully, Singapore GP won’t face a similar fate.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
14th July 2023, 12:50
@jerejj Personally, I hope it totally does. It’s horrifically bad circuit with zero value whatsoever. Racing under artificial lighting was a fun gimmick for maybe 2008-09 but it’s gotten old by now and Sakhir already does the same thing while being superior venue compared to Singapore’s boredom.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th July 2023, 13:59
@huhhii I’ve always liked the atmosphere & the track itself despite being the second-slowest, but still an enjoyable challenge.
Besides, not only Sakhir (& that place has had lighting infrastructure since 2014) but all Middle East locations + LV.
Additionally, Yas Marina had lighting infrastructure before Sakhir, but nothing wrong with racing under artificial lighting anyway & I haven’t found that getting old to any extent over time.
Caoimhe (@ciaran)
14th July 2023, 14:24
@huhhii There’s plenty of appeal in the Singapore circuit. It’s the most intensive on the drivers all year, given the near-2-hour race duration and high humidity. The racing quality isn’t the best on the calendar, but there’s far more to it than that.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
14th July 2023, 14:53
@ciaran Malaysian GP should make its return to the calendar in Singapore’s place. It’s just as humid so we could still have that one physically extra challenging race in the calendar.
@jerejj Can’t say for LV but Sakhir is the only track worth of keeping out of all those night races so that’s why I specifically mentioned it.
Yaru (@yaru)
14th July 2023, 22:17
Not gonna happen, Malaysian government thinks the hosting costs are too expensive, which was why they exited in the first place, as the event was losing too much money (and it being burdened by the local taxpayers).
Nick T.
15th July 2023, 10:11
There have been some great races there, it has a great energy and it looks spectacular on TV and in person. I personally hope it doesn’t go anywhere. Lots of other awful tracks that deserve the axe ahead of it.
Simon
14th July 2023, 14:07
@jerejj
“When I saw the headline, I immediately got…”
To commenting on the first thing that came into your head – as usual
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
14th July 2023, 14:15
You really are a little bully aren’t you.
Qeki (@qeki)
14th July 2023, 18:44
Tell me where you live so we can have some time together Simon
Qeki (@qeki)
14th July 2023, 18:46
Don’t actually bother I can easily hack it and I will come to see you next week
Jere (@jerejj)
14th July 2023, 18:50
Simon – As if no one ever comments based on what they first think about news.
ADUB SMALLBLOCK (@waptraveler)
14th July 2023, 16:49
“HPL noted that “no charges have been filed against Mr Ong” who is travelling today and will hand his passport to the CPIB when he returns to Singapore. He has paid a bail fee of SIN$ 100,000 (£57,000).”
And he will “return” after he finds the right people to bribe so this all goes away.
Coventry Climax
14th July 2023, 17:24
Watchout, Sandwhichands may want you to prove that!
Yaru (@yaru)
14th July 2023, 22:08
Singapore ranks 5th out of 180 countries in Transparency International (the leading global NGO for anti corruption activism and analysis) Corruption Perceptions Index for 2022.
Only Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Norway beats it. Hell it’s the least corrupt country on the F1 calander.
Kerry Maxwell (@kerrymaxwell)
14th July 2023, 19:19
Corrupt Billionaire is a redundancy.
MichaelN
14th July 2023, 20:31
I recall Ong attending the Malaysian GP in 2014 and saying the noise of the V6 engines warranted a reduction in the hosting fee. The look on Eccelstone’s face was priceless.
But yeah, as @kerrymaxwell notes, a billionaire – and one in real estate to boot – is unlikely to not have some ‘issues’ that could become a legal issue. Especially if someone with some pull wants it to.
Sergey Martyn
15th July 2023, 12:14
Who would doubt that?