Scion of Metro store family facing drugs charges

A member of the family which founded Singapore’s iconic Metro department stores, Ong Jenn, is facing more than half a dozen charges related to the possession, consumption and trafficking of cannabis – which is a Class A controlled drug.

According to court documents obtained, the alleged offences happened in October 2014.

For the amount of cannabis Ong has been accused of trafficking, he faces between five and 20 years’ jail and five to 15 strokes of the cane for each charge. For the possession and consumption of a controlled drug, the 41-year-old could be jailed for up to 10 years and/or fined up to S$20,000 per charge. His case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Aug 19.

Court documents detail how on or before Oct 30, 2014, Ong allegedly conspired with Mohamad Ismail Abdul Majid to traffic cannabis. On that date at about 4.20pm, along Jurong Port Road near bus stop B05, Mohamad Ismail was in possession of one block of “not less than 92.68 grams of… cannabis” and another block containing “385.1 grams of fragmented vegetable matter which was analysed and found to be cannabis mixture”.

The charges allege that Mohamad Ismail had the two blocks so they could be delivered to Ong.

At about 1.20pm the next day, in a car parked at Ngee Ann City, Ong was found in possession of a vaporiser, which is an inhalation device. According to the charge sheets, he allegedly intended to use the vaporiser to consume a Class A drug. Ong is also accused of consuming “11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid”, which is a component of marijuana.

Authorities found Ong allegedly in possession of one block of cannabis weighing 75.32 grams and one block of cannabis mixture weighing 284.7 grams at a home in Bishopsgate at 2.10pm. He is accused of having these for the purpose of trafficking.

Ong is represented by a team from law firm WongPartnership, including Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng. Ong’s lawyers declined to comment as proceedings are ongoing.

According to his LinkedIn profile, from 2003 until August this year Ong was a Business Development Manager at Metro Holdings, whose core businesses are retail, property development and investment. The retail interests include three Metro stores in Singapore. He’s also the founder of Tompang, a peer-to-peer retail platform operator.

Metro’s latest annual report lists Ong as a “substantial shareholder” in Metro Holdings as at Jun 13. Ong is the son of the late Jopie Ong Hie Koan, who helmed Metro from 1973 until his death in February this year.