Kalyarasan Karuppaya was convicted of violating the Official Secrets Act (Representational)
Singapore:
An Indian-origin Singaporean, who was working as an inspection officer with a public housing authority, was on Monday given 25 days to alert an Indian tenant about an impending inspection to check overcrowding in his flat. was sentenced to prison.
Kalyarasan Karuppaya, 55, who was suspended from his duties with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) since January 25 last year, on Monday pleaded guilty to two charges of violating the Official Secrets Act by briefing Damandeep Singh about the upcoming inspection. About his rented unit.
Channel News Asia reported that the accused was not authorized to release the information to the 22-year-old Indian national.
The court heard on Monday that Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had received information relating to Kalyarasan on January 9 last year, providing information to Damandeep about the impending inspection of HDB flats (apartments) on several occasions in 2019. Went.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min said that as an investigating officer with the rank of High Property Executive, Kalarasan’s work included investigating violations related to subletting and possession in HDB estates.
These included offenses such as unauthorized subletting of HDB units, overcrowding and misuse of units or other illegal activities.
Mr Thiam said that as part of his investigation, the accused would be involved in conducting surprise inspections of members of the public as well as units identified in the Singapore Police Force’s response and complaints.
The accused was aware that the information regarding such surprise inspection was confidential information which he was not permitted to share with others including the owners and tenants of these units.
Along with five others, Damandeep was a registered tenant in the unit in question, Mr. Thiam said, adding that the maximum number of people allowed to stay in the unit is six.
Any breach of this condition may result in debarment of unauthorized tenants from renting HDB units for a specified period and the unit owner from renting the unit.
A total of 12 to 13 people were living in the flat at a time, he said, adding that Kalayarasan was not aware of these facts at that time.
HDB had received a complaint of suspected overcrowding in the flat where Damandeep was a registered tenant. Police also found that the unit was overcrowded on two visits on August 24 and September 4, 2019, with 19 and 18 people on each occasion respectively.
“The investigation revealed that in violation of HDB norms, at all physical times, Damandeep and some other registered tenants illegally sublet the unit to more tenants.
“The aim was so that the illegal sub-tenants could bear some of the cost of the monthly rental of the unit. They collected Singapore Dollars 200 (USD 148) monthly from each illegal sub-tenant,” Mr. Thiam said.
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