A billionaire best known for bringing Formula One night racing to Singapore has pleaded guilty in relation to a scandal to supply one of the city-state’s most senior politicians with luxury gifts, as the yearlong saga nears conclusion.

On Monday, 79-year-old Ong Beng Seng conceded that he abetted former transport minister S. Iwaran in obstructing the course of justice, while another charge was taken into consideration. The hearing at Singapore’s State Courts revealed the most detailed picture yet of the Malaysia-born businessman’s health, raising questions about succession for his $1.5 billion real estate fortune that has swelled by some $400 million this year.

Ong will now await sentencing that’s scheduled for next week. Prosecutors had originally sought eight weeks in jail for him after the guilty plea, but both the prosecution and defense suggested that the judge can exercise “judicial mercy” and impose a fine rather than a jail sentence.

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Singapore’s worst graft scandal in decades has gripped the city-state, which has sought to build a global reputation for zero-tolerance for corruption. Both charges related to offering Iswaran in 2022 a trip on his private jet to Doha, a stay at the Four Seasons there, and a return business class ticket worth S$5,700 ($4,422). The former transport minister was then the chairman of a steering committee for the F1 night race.

The defense said Ong is battling several medical conditions, including multiple myeloma cancer diagnosed in 2020 which has made him immunocompromised, a non-healing wound on his foot and relentless diarrhea episodes. “Ong’s home environment will be more pristine than prison,” lawyer Cavinder Bull said. “Ong is living within a narrow margin where there is no room for error.”

Cases of judicial mercy “are rare and they are dispensed very sparingly” in Singapore, said Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University. “I wouldn’t exclude a nominal jail time.”

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who won his first electoral test as premier in May, has warned lawmakers in the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to separate their public political position from private, professional or business interests, and be wary of potential conflicts.

In 2024, Iswaran was sentenced to one year in jail for obtaining gifts, including race tickets from Ong and a Brompton bicycle from another businessman.

Even after being charged about 10 months ago, Ong continued to travel overseas after seeking permission from the court. Asked by the presiding judge how these trips gel with concerns about his health, Bull replied that Ong’s risk of exposure to infection was minimized by the use of his private jet.

Ong retains a significant footprint in Singapore. His firm continues to run the annual Grand Prix night race, which he helped bring to the city in 2008 owing to a close friendship with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. A multiyear extension of the race contract agreed with Singapore’s tourism board is slated to end by 2028.

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Hotel Properties Ltd, the property firm Ong controls, was also granted initial approval to redevelop marquee assets at a key slice of Singapore’s premier shopping belt Orchard Road in 2023, but has been looking to sell stakes in them, Bloomberg News reported earlier.

A harsh sentence may make it harder to maintain control of his empire. The absence of a clear successor and a lack of active involvement by Ong’s children in Hotel Properties make possible an outside takeover of the firm or a sale of its Orchard Road portfolio, analysts at DBS Group Holdings Ltd said in May. The firm’s thinly traded stock rose less than 1 percent Monday afternoon, bringing its gains this year to about 54 percent.

Ong’s family were not present at the court proceedings Monday. In his only public comment on the plea, a spokesperson for him said his family “has stood by him throughout this ordeal, and he did not wish to prolong the toll it has taken on them by having them present in court today.”