Charged with Wrongful Communication of Information under the Official Secrets Act

On 12 May 2021, two individuals were charged in court with offences under the Official Secrets Act. They are:

a) Kalayarasan S/O Karuppaya [“Kalayarasan”] (44-year-old male Singapore Citizen), a Higher Estate Executive with the Housing & Development Board (“HDB”) at the material time; and

b) Damandeep Singh [“Damandeep”] (22-year-old male Indian National)

2. On three occasions in May, August and September 2019, Kalayarasan allegedly communicated information on the HDB’s impending inspections of a unit at Kim Tian Road to one Damandeep, whom he (Kalayarasan) was not authorised to do so. Damandeep, who was a registered tenant of said unit, allegedly received this information while having reasonable grounds to believe that the information was communicated to him in contravention of the Official Secrets Act (Chapter 213). For their actions, Kalayarasan and Damandeep will each face three charges for offences under Section 5(1)(e)(i) and Section 5(2), punishable under Section 17(2) of the Official Secrets Act (Chapter 213), respectively.

3. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and other criminal activities. Any person who is convicted of an offence under section 5 of the Official Secrets Act can be fined up to $2,000 and sentenced to imprisonment of up to two years.

4. The CPIB looks into all corruption complaints and reports, including anonymous ones, and can be reached via the following channels:

a) Lodge an e-Complaint;
b) Email us at report@cpib.gov.sg;
c) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000; or
d) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047.

5. Where possible, the report should include the following information:

a) Where, when and how the alleged corrupt act happened?
b) Who was involved and what were their roles?
c) What was the bribe given and the favour shown?

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau