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SINGAPORE: Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng has been allowed to retain his Singapore permanent residency, months after he was found guilty of abetting in the obstruction of justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has reviewed the permanent resident status of Ong Beng Seng, and will not revoke his PR status,” the agency said on Monday (Nov 10).<\/p>\n “Instead, he has been issued a letter of warning to put him on notice that any future adverse conduct will render him liable for revocation of his PR status.”<\/span><\/p>\n Mr Ong, a Malaysian billionaire, was fined S$30,000 (US$23,000) <\/span>in August. He pleaded guilty to intentionally aiding former Transport Minister S Iswaran to pay S$5,700 to Singapore GP for a business class flight ticket from Doha to Singapore.<\/p>\n This payment was made in 2023, months after the flight, and only after the anti-corruption agency discovered Mr Iswaran’s name on the manifest for an outbound flight to Doha when investigating a separate case.<\/p>\n Mr Ong is the man behind Singapore GP, which brought the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Singapore in 2008.<\/p>\n A second charge for instigating Mr Iswaran to obtain flights and a hotel stay from him, when Mr Ong had business dealings linked with Mr Iswaran’s official functions, was considered in sentencing.<\/p>\n On account of Mr Ong\u2019s poor health, the judge agreed with the prosecution and defence that judicial mercy<\/a> was justified and imposed the maximum fine a district court can give, instead of three months’ jail.<\/p>\n ICA had said, following Mr Ong’s conviction, that his PR status was under review<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n