HDB officer charged with giving 'confidential' info to ST reporter
Ng Han Yuan, 25, leaving court with an unknown lady on Friday (Nov 10) after he was charged with one count of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Photo: Alfred Chua/TODAY
SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old Housing And Development Board (HDB) officer has been charged in court on Friday (Nov 10) with breaching the Official Secrets Act (OSA) by "wrongfully communicating confidential information" to a reporter from The Straits Times.
Ng Han Yuan, who has been suspended from his duties as an estate manager with HDB's resale operations section, faces one count under the OSA.
He told the court on Friday that he intends to plead guilty, and will not be engaging a lawyer. Ng returns to court on Dec 15.
Meanwhile, the police said in a statement that the ST reporter had been issued with a stern warning. She was identified in court documents as Ms Janice Tai.
Responding to queries from TODAY, Mr Warren Fernandez, The Straits Times' Editor said: “The Straits Times wants to place on record its support for our colleague Janice Tai, who was doing her job as a reporter for the paper. She continues to be a valued member of the ST newsroom team."
According to the police statement, the HDB reported a suspected leak of confidential information to the police on July 27.
HDB's move came after it received queries from the Straits Times reporter on an upcoming new initiative, the HDB Resale Portal.
"The queries had contained information on the initiative which had not been made public at that point in time," the police said.
Investigations revealed that Ng had shared the information — relating to a project titled "Streamling of Resale Transactions" — with Ms Tai in May this year.
She then approached several parties with questions relating to the confidential information she had obtained from him.
“The Government takes a serious view of the wrongful communication of confidential information, especially if the party involved is a public officer, and will not hesitate to take action,” the police said.
Anyone convicted for the offence of wrongfully communicating confidential information under the relevant section of the OSA may be punished with a fine not exceeding $2,000 and to imprisonment of a term not exceeding two years.
When asked about the case, a HDB spokesperson said: "We will assess the situation and take appropriate disciplinary action based on the outcome of the court proceedings. As court proceedings are underway, HDB is unable to comment on the case."
