The rights owner of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix has been charged in relation to a corruption case engulfing the country’s former transport minister.
Ong Beng Beng, a Malaysian businessman, has been accused of handing S. Iswaran gifts worth $300,000, including a trip on a private jet, trips to Premier League football matches as well as tickets to the Grand Prix itself.
Iswaran, who resigned from his post in January, was jailed for a year last Thursday for receiving gifts whilst holding office, with Ong now the focus of attention.
Ong, originally arrested last July, was charged under Section 165, for offering gifts to Iswaran as well as obstructing justice, on Friday, the same day he requested his company, Hotel Properties Ltd, to halt trading.
Despite the scandal, it appears that Singapore’s future as a Formula 1 race host is secure, having already agreed to stage the event until 2028, a deal signed two years ago.
The race was first staged in 2008, securing its place in F1 history as the first-ever Grand Prix to be staged at night.
It has also gone down in history as one of the most controversial Grands Prix in history, with Fernando Alonso taking victory for Renault after team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed by his team to crash on purpose, in order to bring out the Safety Car to enable Alonso to capitalise via a change of strategy.
The outcome inadvertently changed the course of that season’s Drivers’ Championship, with Lewis Hamilton taking the title ahead of Felipe Massa, with the Brazilian now undergoing his own legal proceedings to change the outcome.
It ran until 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily ended the race’s place on the calendar.
Singapore returned on the roster in 2022, with this year’s event taking place two weeks ago as Lando Norris claimed the victory around the Marina Bay Circuit.
