A 41-year-old business development manager of property and retail giant Metro Holdings is facing eight drug-related charges.
Ong Jenn, who is the grandson of Metro founder Ong Tjoe Kim and son of former Metro group managing director Jopie Ong Hie Koan, was first charged on Nov 1, 2014.
His next pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug 19.
He is accused of abetting Mohamad Ismail Abdul Majid, by engaging in a conspiracy with the latter to traffic in two blocks of cannabis, one weighing 92.68g and the other, 385.1g.
On Oct 30, 2014, Ismail was caught with the drugs along Jurong Port Road at about 4.20pm.
The next day, Ong was himself arrested. Anti-narcotics officers allegedly found a vaporiser for inhaling drugs in his car at the Ngee Ann City carpark at about 1.20pm.
Shortly after at about 2.10pm at 11 Bishopsgate, a landed property, they purportedly found two blocks of cannabis belonging to Ong, one weighing 75.32g and the other, 284.7g, for the purpose of trafficking.
They also found 1.44g of cannabis, and 8.41g of a mixture containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of cannabis, that allegedly belonged to him.
The same day, Ong’s urine purportedly tested positive for a metabolite of THC that is formed in the body after cannabis is consumed.
If found guilty of his four charges of trafficking in Class A controlled drugs, Ong faces a mandatory jail term of between five and 20 years, with five to 15 strokes of the cane, per charge.
For the two counts of having a Class A controlled drug in his possession, he faces up to 10 years’ jail and a $20,000 fine, if convicted.
If found guilty of having an utensil for consuming a Class A controlled drug, he faces up to three years’ jail and a $10,000 fine.
And if convicted of consuming cannabis, cannabinol or cannabinol derivatives, he faces up to 10 years’ jail and a $20,000 fine.
Ong’s father was group managing director of Metro Holdings from 1973 until his death in February.
Get MyPaper for more stories.
