Singapore Minister Iswaran, tycoon Ong arrested, released on bail

Singapore: Transport Minister S Iswaran was arrested on Tuesday and released on bail while his passport was impounded, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau has said.

A CPIB spokesperson on Friday said Iswaran was arrested on the same day as Ong Beng Seng, founder and managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, reported The Straits Times.

Ong was also released on bail.

“As part of bail conditions, subjects’ passports are impounded. Subjects on bail can, however, make requests to travel overseas. CPIB will assess such requests on a case-by-case basis,” the Singapore daily quoted the CPIB spokesperson as saying.

“CPIB assessed and acceded to Ong’s request to travel overseas. Ong’s bail quantum was also increased to SGD100,000. Upon his return, Ong is required to report to CPIB and surrender his passport to the bureau.” The spokesperson declined to provide further details, citing ongoing investigations.

Iswaran (61), is a senior member of the ruling People’s Action Party and has been on a leave of absence from his official duties, was assisting the CPIB with an investigation into a case it had uncovered.

Iswaran’s political career spans more than 26 years since he was first elected in 1997 as a Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC.

Before he was appointed to the Cabinet in 2006, he was on several government parliamentary committees and was the deputy speaker of Parliament from September 2004 to June 2006.

He has been Minister for Transport since May 2021 and has been concurrently minister-in-charge of trade relations at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) since May 2018.

Before his career in politics, Iswaran worked in both the public and private sectors, including at MTI as well as Temasek Holdings.

“No charges have been filed against Ong. He will be traveling from July 14 and will be surrendering his passport to CPIB upon his return to Singapore," Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL) said on Friday.

Ong (77), is a Malaysian based in Singapore and owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and is chairman of race promoter Singapore GP.

Iswaran has been actively involved in the government's engagements with F1, including making appearances at press conferences where announcements about the event's future have been made.

“As this is an ongoing matter, he is unable to provide further details at this point. He has undertaken to provide updates to the board if there are subsequent material developments," Channel News Asia had HPL as saying of Ong’s current position in the high-profile case related to a possibility of corruption.

The contract for Singapore to host the Formula 1 Grand Prix for another seven years was signed last year - the fourth renewal and longest extension - bringing the event back to Marina Bay in the central business district after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Formula 1 (F1) Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2023 is scheduled for September 15-17.