Flight risk, offence severity among factors for setting S$100,000 bail: Lawyers on Ong Beng Seng's arrest

SINGAPORE: A person's flight risk and the severity of any alleged offence are among the factors the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) will consider when setting bail, lawyers told CNA on Friday (Jul 14). 

In the case of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, the bail amount of S$100,000 (US$75,700) is "reasonable" and within the "normal range" for a corruption offence potentially implicating a public servant, lawyers said.

Mr Ong, the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), was arrested in connection with the graft probe involving Transport Minister S Iswaran and released after posting bail.

No charges have been filed against Mr Ong, who was asked by CPIB to "provide information in relation to his interactions" with Mr Iswaran, HPL said on Friday.

The billionaire, who is Malaysian and based in Singapore, has been allowed to travel and will surrender his passport to CPIB upon returning to Singapore.

The bail amount of S$100,000 is "pretty much average" for corruption potentially involving a public servant, but "might be a bit high" for private sector graft, said lawyer Adrian Wee of Lighthouse Law.

As for how far along the investigation into Mr Ong might be, Mr Wee said arrests "can happen at any time ... but the trigger is whether they have reasonable suspicion. When that comes about is hard to say".

The lawyer stressed the fact that CPIB has allowed Mr Ong to travel "must mean that they are satisfied that the conditions of bail will be sufficient to procure his return".

In setting bail, the anti-graft agency would also consider any potential financial benefit from the acts under investigation, to avoid a situation where the bail amount is "dwarfed" by that benefit, he said.

Mr Jeremy Pereira, a senior associate at Withers KhattarWong, said that the bail of S$100,000 "could be considered low especially when one takes into account (Mr Ong's) high net worth".

The amount "may not be indicative of the scale of the investigations, but likely that they don't consider him that much of a flight risk", he said.

Mr Ong and his wife, Singaporean businesswoman Christina Ong, were ranked 24th richest in Singapore last year and estimated by Forbes to have a net worth of US$1.75 billion.

But Mr Wee, who focuses on white collar offences, said that the personal assets of a suspect who is being offered bail are not an important consideration.

"LESS OF A FLIGHT RISK"

"Having assets within the country is a positive thing for the person who's being investigated ... it suggests less of a flight risk," he said.

"And I would also say that it may not be fair to set bail at a higher amount just because someone has more assets, because then the person's not being treated equally."

As for the matter of Mr Ong's nationality, "the fact that a person is not a Singaporean does not in itself make that person a higher flight risk", said Mr Shashi Nathan, partner at Withers KhattarWong.

He added that having business operations in multiple countries does not in itself increase or decrease flight risk.

"An assessment would have to be made to calibrate the amount of bail sufficient, not only to allow the person to be released from custody, but also to travel out of jurisdictions if necessary," said Mr Nathan.

HPL owns and operates hotels under the brands of Four Seasons, COMO Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, Six Senses, Marriott International, Hard Rock Hotels and Concorde, as well as shopping malls.

The businesses span the globe, with operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Indonesia, Seychelles, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vanuatu, Bhutan, Tanzania, South Africa, Italy and Sri Lanka.

Mr Pereira said that the bail amount is usually higher for foreigners with no roots in Singapore, but as Mr Ong has roots here, such as property and businesses, these would have been taken into consideration.

"If he has assets overseas and can essentially live comfortably without having to ever return to Singapore, this would also be a factor which would have been taken into account," he added.