SINGAPORE — A secretly taped recording of Institute of Microelectronics (IME) Deputy Executive Director Patrick Lo telling his staff to be “very careful” about their conditioned statements to the court regarding American researcher Shane Todd’s death put Dr Lo on the spot yesterday.

During the sixth day of the high-profile coroner’s inquiry, it emerged that an audio recording of the meeting between Dr Lo and his staff on April 11 was submitted to the police by IME scientist Joseph Romen Cubillo.

The recording raised the possibility that there might have been an attempt to influence seven IME employees on the contents of their conditioned statements, said Senior State Counsel Tai Wei Shyong.

When asked to explain the purpose of the meeting, Dr Lo — who was Todd’s direct supervisor — said he wanted to give his staff the option of seeking legal advice and had also asked them to exercise caution in providing material that could potentially be made public and breach customer confidentiality.

Mr Tai also pointed out that based on the transcript of the recording, Mr Cubillo — who is expected to take the stand later — had reacted strongly during the meeting.

However, Dr Lo said there was no violent argument and that he had not tried to influence or withdraw evidence. The essence of the meeting was to tell his employees to tell the truth, but at the same time, respect customer confidentiality, he added.

Dr Lo also said he had sought legal advice after giving statements to the police as he felt he needed more clarity on what was considered confidential. He added that he was not aware that the material given to the police would be made public.

Had he known, Dr Lo said, he would have been “very hesitant” in giving out information.

“I have concerns that it will be detrimental to IME’s business conduct in future if confidentiality of customers is compromised,” he said.

Todd, 31, was found hanged in his apartment in June last year in an apparent suicide. His parents, who are attending the inquiry, believe that he was murdered over research done while working for the IME.

Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, who is representing the IME, asked Dr Lo whether the Gallium Nitride (GaN)-on-silicon research programme — which Todd was involved in — had military implications and if it could threaten United States’ security.

Dr Lo reiterated that the applications of the programme were meant only for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth usage.

Testifying yesterday, Computer Forensics Analyst Ashraf Massoud from the US — who was engaged by Todd’s parents – claimed that Todd’s hard drive had been accessed by an unidentified laptop in his apartment in the early morning of June 23, a day before his body was discovered.

He also said Todd’s hard disk drive was accessed on June 27 — which both the Singapore Police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation have ascertained was accessed by investigation officer Muhammad Khaldun Sarif, who did so to examine for suspicious material.

The police officer found none and returned the hard disk drive to Todd’s parents.