Hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng (C) left Singapore State Court on August 4, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng was sentenced to jail for arguing that he had shrunk a Singaporean politician.
The former managing director of the former listed hotel real estate was fined S$30,000 ($23,400) by a judge who awarded Ong his probation from his term of office in prison despite awarding Ong a serious medical condition and “judicial mercy.” The businessman was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare type of bone marrow cancer.
“I find that in this case, humanitarian considerations that support the exercise of judicial mercy should prevail,” District Court Judge Lee said in court Friday. “There is no doubt that medical evidence shows that the detention sentence will put the defendant’s lives at a huge risk.”
Ong, 79, may be sentenced to up to seven years for crimes in addition to fines. Last week, the Malaysian-born tycoon (who owns a franchise for Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix) felt guilty of teaching trackity’s former transport minister S. Iswaran for obstructing justice while considering another charge.
The allegations are related to Doha flights and hotel accommodation received from ONG during the FIFA World Cup Championship in December 2022, when a former legal manufacturer led the Singapore Formula One Night Race Steering Committee. Iswaran was imprisoned last October but was allowed to be imprisoned from the remaining 12 months at home in February.
Ong and his wife Christina have a total net worth of $1.7 billion. The couple has a lot of bets on the hotel property, which has a portfolio of assets in 15 countries, including four season hotels in Singapore and resorts in the Maldives and British handbag maker Mulberry Group.
Ong resigned as managing director of hotel real estate in April. The developer said last month it was in conversation with potential partners to redevelop its adjacent main property at Orchard Road, a major shopping destination in Singapore.
