Singapore property tycoon cooperating with anti-graft agency - company (updated)

Hotel Properties

14/07/2023 05:35

(Adds details, background throughout)
       SINGAPORE, July 14 (Reuters) - A Singapore-based
property tycoon known for bringing Formula One races to the
city-state is cooperating with the anti-graft agency in a case
launched earlier this week involving the transport minister, his
company said on Friday. 
        The Singapore-listed Hotel Properties Ltd  HPPS.SI  said
in a statement no charges had been filed against its managing
director Ong Beng Seng, adding that he was asked by the Corrupt
Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) to provide information on
his interactions with transport minister S Iswaran.
  
        Contacted by Reuters, the CPIB said it had no immediate
comment on the issue.
  
        The CPIB earlier this week said it had launched an 
    investigation
     into Iswaran, but did not provide further details. Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday said he had instructed
Iswaran to take a leave of absence until the investigations were
completed. 
    The case is a rare high-level probe in Singapore, a top
Asian financial hub that prides itself on a corruption-free
government. Civil servants are paid handsomely to discourage
graft, with some ministers' annual salaries exceeding S$1
million ($758,000).       
        Ong, who was travelling on Friday, will surrender his
passport to the CPIB upon his return to Singapore, his company
said. He has been given a notice of arrest and posted bail of
S$100,000, it added.
  
        The 79-year-old's company has around 38 hotels and
resorts operating under brands that include COMO, Four Seasons,
Hard Rock Hotels and Concorde, according to the London Stock
Exchange's Refinitiv Eikon. 
  
        Shares in Hotel Properties Ltd fell as much as 7% on the
news and were last down 4.4%, heading for their worst session in
more than two years.
  
        Malaysia-born Ong is also credited with bringing Formula
One (F1) motor racing to Singapore in 2008. He and his wife
Christina Ong had a net worth of $1.75 billion in 2022,
according to Forbes.    
  
 ($1 = 1.3185 Singapore dollars)

 (Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor;
Editing by Martin Petty and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
 ((kanupriya.kapoor@thomsonreuters.com;))