Prosecutors in Singapore have charged a business tycoon over his involvement in a graft case that resulted in a jail sentence for a former minister.
Ong Beng Seng is the owner of a property company. He is also known as the person who brought Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore. Ong was arrested last year along with former Transport Minister Subramaniam Iswaran, who was accused of receiving gifts from Ong. They included free F1 tickets and an international trip on a private jet.
Iswaran was sentenced to a year in jail on Thursday.
A day after the verdict, Ong was charged with abetting a public servant in obtaining valuable gifts and obstructing justice.
Corruption cases involving politicians and high-profile businesspeople are rare in the city-state.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in a statement that he is ‘disappointed and saddened’ by the case. He stressed that Singapore’s government and politics must always stay clean and free from corruption.