SINGAPORE — Two men were charged in court on Friday (Sept 13) over alleged information leaks regarding three Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) renovation projects, including one with a budget of S$3 million.

Hsu Yee Chern, 52, was handed four charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for allegedly leaking the information to his co-accused, Tan Kian Meng, 46.

Tan was accordingly given four charges of receiving the unauthorised information.

According to court documents, the alleged offences occurred over four occasions between Dec 3, 2018 and May 3, 2019.

Hsu was a DSTA programme manager at the time, said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in a separate statement on Friday. 

Tan was a project manager at an external contractor that had dealings with the agency at the time.

Both the accused are Singaporeans.

The DSTA projects in question involved alteration works for toilets in buildings along Clementi Loop, power upgrading and renovation to an office building at Stagmont Road, and alteration works to buildings along Sungei Gedong Road.

For example, on Dec 3, 2018, Hsu allegedly informed Tan that three parties had failed in bidding for the toilet renovation project at Clementi Loop.

On March 12, 2019, Hsu purportedly communicated to Tan that DSTA’s budget for the power upgrading and renovation project at Stagmont Road was S$3 million.

Hsu also purportedly leaked DSTA's evaluation findings of a tender price put in by another company, and allegedly informed Tan that a bidder for one of the projects was in poor financial health.

The documents did not indicate why Hsu had allegedly communicated such information to Tan.

The prosecution on Friday told the court that they will be proceeding with two charges for each accused, with the remaining charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Both the accused, who appeared in person at the State Courts, sought to adjourn their cases to seek legal counsel.

Hsu’s case will be heard in court on Oct 11.

As Tan informed the court that he wanted to make two overseas trips — one for business to Indonesia and one for leisure to Malaysia — his application to leave Singapore will be heard in court on Sept 20.

Both men are out on bail.

If convicted under the OSA, they can be sentenced to a fine of up to S$2,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both, for each offence.