SINGAPORE: When approached by a friend to check if someone had any police cases against him in the system, a police officer agreed and accessed the confidential Singapore Police Force’s (SPF’s) database.
Sergeant Bryan Tay Wei Chuan, 30, was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on Tuesday (Jul 4) for his crimes.
He was originally set for trial on Monday, but pleaded guilty instead to one count of wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act and another charge of unauthorised computer access.
A third charge was considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Tay joined the SPF in July 2017 and was a ground response officer at Sembawang Neighbourhood Police Centre at the time.
On Mar 18, 2020, co-accused Lincoln Poh Chong Tee, contacted Tay. They had become friends after a holiday in Vietnam.
Poh asked Tay to perform a screening to check if there were any ongoing police cases against someone named Wang Yu Chi, and provided Wang’s NRIC number.
At a food centre later that day, Poh introduced Wang to Tay. Wang told Tay that someone had made a police report about his company, and Wang wanted to check if he was implicated.
Both men then repeated the request to Tay to screen Wang’s NRIC. Poh reminded Tay about this again a few days later.
On the morning of Mar 24, 2020, Tay was performing counter duties at Sembawang Neighbourhood Police Centre when he saw that no one else was around.
He logged into Cubicon II, SPF’s confidential computer database system, and conducted a screening on Wang’s NRIC.
The screening returned no records against Wang, and Tay immediately sent a text to Poh saying “his record is clean”.
The prosecution had asked for a fine of S$5,000 for the computer misuse charge and two to four weeks’ jail for the Official Secrets Act charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said Tay had breached the trust and confidence reposed in him as a police officer, and undermined the reputation of the Singapore Police Force.
Poh was sentenced to a year’s jail last year for various offences. He had hatched a plot with Wang to scam others through a fake money exchange service.
According to the prosecution’s case against Poh, Poh had asked Tay to conduct another screening in April 2020. Tay refused this time, saying that there were records of such screenings and that he would get caught.
Poh tried again in July 2020, asking Tay to check if Wang was wanted by the authorities, in order for him to determine if he could return to Singapore. Tay refused, saying he did not dare to make any more checks.
Police investigations against Poh uncovered Tay’s unauthorised screening of Wang’s NRIC number.
Wang, who is based in Vietnam, remains at large.
CNA has contacted SPF for more information on Tay’s status in the force.