SINGAPORE — Ong Jenn, who hails from the family that founded Metro, is facing more than half a dozen drug charges, with the most serious offence punishable by up to 20 years’ jail and 15 strokes of the cane.

The 41-year-old is the grandson of Ong Tjoe Kim, who founded Metro in 1957 as a textile store and grew it into a chain of department stores, as well as ventured into property development and investment. His father is Jopie Ong Hie Koan, Metro’s managing director from 1973 until he died in February this year.

Ong faces eight charges, relating to the possession and trafficking of cannabis, the consumption of controlled drugs, as well as the possession of drug paraphernalia.

His charge sheets stated that he abetted the trafficking of cannabis by a man named Mohamad Ismail Abdul Majid. On Oct 30, 2014, Ismail was found to be in possession of one 385.1g block of cannabis mixture and one 92.68g block of cannabis at a bus stop along Jurong Port Road. These drugs were purportedly to be delivered to Ong.

The following day, the authorities stopped Ong at the carpark of Ngee Ann City where they allegedly found a drug inhalation device in his car. It was not stated what type of drug the device was purportedly for.

Officers then went to his home at 11 Bishopsgate where they allegedly found one 75.32g block of cannabis and one 284.7g block of cannabis mixture, believed to be for trafficking.

They also allegedly found one 8.41g block of “fragmented vegetable matter and granular/powdery substance” that contained components of cannabis, and 1.44g of vegetable matter found to contain cannabis. These were believed to be for personal consumption, based on the charge sheets.

Ong’s remaining charge was for the consumption of marijuana.

A pre-trial conference has been scheduled on Aug 19. Ong is represented by lawyers from WongPartnership, including Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng. When contacted by TODAY, the law firm declined to comment.

If found guilty of the offences relating to drug trafficking, Ong could be jailed at least five years, up to 20 years, as well as caned between five and 15 times, for each count.

The maximum penalty for possessing a drug utensil is three years’ imprisonment and/or a S$10,000 fine.

For his drug consumption charges, Ong faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a S$20,000 for each count.

According to Ong’s LinkedIn profile, he was the business development manager at Metro Holdings from 2003 to August this year. In Metro’s latest annual report, Ong is listed as a “substantial shareholder”.