Ex-LTA officer fined $2k under OSA for copying files to personal laptop before quitting
A Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer copied files from his work laptop to his personal device and held on to them after resigning, an offence under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Benny Tan Yong Liang claimed he had hoped to refer to his own work after leaving the authority for "research or teaching purposes", said Deputy Public Prosecutor Ben Mathias Tan.
On Tuesday (May 24), the 34-year-old former assistant environmental manager with LTA was convicted of one charge under OSA and fined $2,000.
The court heard that Tan's job role at LTA involved noise and environmental management for LTA projects.
He researched the latest technology and developments in noise management and conducted training for staff on noise-related measures.
On Oct 19, 2020, Tan submitted his resignation letter stating that his last day of employment would be on Nov 19 that year.
On Oct 22, the human resources department sent him an e-mail informing him, among other things, of his obligation to safeguard official information even after leaving LTA and that any breaches would make him liable under OSA.
Over the last week of his employment, Tan copied 4,310 files, with a total size of 32.05GB, from his official LTA work laptop to his personal laptop when he had no right to retain them.
Those convicted of retaining official information without a right to do so can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $2,000.
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