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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s transport minister has been arrested in connection with a rare top-level corruption probe that has also ensnared a billionaire hotel tycoon, the country’s antigraft body has said.
Transport minister S Iswaran was “arrested on July 11, 2023” and “subsequently released on bail”, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in an emailed statement late Friday, confirming the arrest for the first time. Iswaran had been ordered to go on leave earlier in the week by PM Lee Hsien Loong after the CPIB said the minister was “currently assisting” an ongoing investigation.
Hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng, one of Singapore’s richest people, was also arrested on the same day and released on bail in connection with the probe. The bureau has not disclosed details of the investigation that has gripped the city-state, a global financial hub reputed to be among the least corrupt countries in the world.
Ong is the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, which owns a string of high-end hotels and resorts in locations around Asia and the Pacific.
Ong, a Malaysian who is a Singapore permanent resident, is credited with helping bring the Formula One Grand Prix to Singapore in 2008. His private firm Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board last year renewed the contract to host the F1 race until 2028.
Transport minister S Iswaran was “arrested on July 11, 2023” and “subsequently released on bail”, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in an emailed statement late Friday, confirming the arrest for the first time. Iswaran had been ordered to go on leave earlier in the week by PM Lee Hsien Loong after the CPIB said the minister was “currently assisting” an ongoing investigation.
Hotel tycoon Ong Beng Seng, one of Singapore’s richest people, was also arrested on the same day and released on bail in connection with the probe. The bureau has not disclosed details of the investigation that has gripped the city-state, a global financial hub reputed to be among the least corrupt countries in the world.
Ong is the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, which owns a string of high-end hotels and resorts in locations around Asia and the Pacific.
Ong, a Malaysian who is a Singapore permanent resident, is credited with helping bring the Formula One Grand Prix to Singapore in 2008. His private firm Singapore GP and the Singapore Tourism Board last year renewed the contract to host the F1 race until 2028.
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