The Police will be charging two 36-year-old women on 14 April 2021 for offences under the Official Secrets Act and Computer Misuse Act.
On 16 April 2020, the Police received a report from a member of the public stating that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore for that day had allegedly been leaked online, even though the Ministry of Health (MOH) had not officially released the figures as yet.
Investigations revealed that a 36-year-old woman, who was a civil servant and an authorised recipient of confidential information on COVID-19, had allegedly shared the number of new COVID-19 cases on 22 occasions, between March and April 2020, with members of a private chat group who were not authorised to receive the information. Some members of the chat group who were not authorised to receive the information, allegedly further disseminated it before MOH officially released the information. The woman will be charged for wrongful communication of information under Section 5(1) of the Official Secrets Act. 64 others who had wrongfully received and/or communicated the information will be issued with stern warnings or written advisories for offences under the Official Secrets Act.
Investigations also revealed that another 36-year-old woman, who was a member of the chat group, had allegedly asked the abovementioned civil servant to check on the case status of a patient who had tested positive for COVID-19. The civil servant then allegedly accessed a Government COVID-19 database to retrieve confidential records and provided the information to the woman. For accessing the Government COVID-19 database for this unlawful purpose, the civil servant will be charged for unauthorised access to computer materials under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act. The other woman will be charged for soliciting wrongful communication of information, along with other offences of wrongful communication of information under Section 5(1) of the Official Secrets Act.
The authorities take a serious view of any breach of the Official Secrets Act. The offence of wrongful communication of information under Section 5(1) of the Official Secrets Act is punishable under Section 17(2) of the Official Secrets Act, which carries a fine of up to $2,000 and imprisonment for a term of up to two years. Unauthorised recipients should delete and not further circulate any confidential information received, as they may otherwise be similarly liable under the Official Secrets Act. The offence of unauthorised access to computer materials under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act carries a fine of up to $5,000 and imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
13 April 2021 @ 9:30 PM