A 37-year-old man was arrested for wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), he circulated an official document of the suspect, a “look-out message” (LOM) that was sent to law enforcement agencies.
The police were alerted to an image of an official document that had been circulating on social media and messaging platforms amongst the public on 10 February 2021.
At about 7.30am, the LOM was issued to agencies after the suspect’s identity was established.
The 37-year-old male then took a photo of the LOM and WhatsApp-ed it to his 60-year-old male friend, who was not an authorised recipient of the information that was classified.
The 60-year-old man then sent the LOM to more people, leading to a wide circulation of the classified information.
The police highlighted that unauthorised recipients of the classified information should not circulate the confidential information received, because they would be similarly liable under the OSA.
The 37-year-old man is facing a fine of up to $2,000 and a jail of up to 2 years.
At the time of writing, investigations are still ongoing.