Singapore-based billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng pleaded guilty on Monday to a single charge of abetting obstruction of justice in a corruption investigation that last year sent former transport minister S. Iswaran to prison. A second charge was taken into consideration. Prosecutors told the State Court that Ong, 79, alerted Iswaran in 2023 that anti-graft officers had seized a private-flight manifest containing the minister’s name. Iswaran then asked Ong to issue an invoice for the trip through Singapore GP, the Formula One race promoter controlled by Ong, in an effort to disguise the benefit. Investigators said Ong had earlier provided Iswaran with flights, hotel accommodation in Doha, Formula One tickets and other hospitality worth more than S$300,000 (US$233,000). The court heard that Ong faces a maximum sentence of seven years and a fine, but both prosecution and defence urged judicial mercy, citing his multiple-myeloma diagnosis. They recommended a financial penalty instead of imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for 15 August. The case is one of the most prominent corruption scandals in a city-state that prides itself on clean governance and pays cabinet ministers annual salaries exceeding S$1 million to deter graft. Iswaran, the first former Singapore cabinet member to be jailed, received a 12-month sentence in October 2024 and is currently under house arrest for the remainder of his term.