SINGAPORE - Two men have been charged under the Official Secrets Act with sharing information relating to checks to be done by the Housing Board.

Kalayarasan Karuppaya, 54, who was a higher estate executive with HDB, was slapped with three charges under the Act on Wednesday (May 12). He was alleged to have wrongfully shared information of impending HDB inspections of a unit at Block 121 Kim Tian Road with Damandeep Singh, a 22-year-old Indian national.

Damandeep, a registered tenant of the unit, was also slapped with three charges under the Act for receiving the information, while allegedly having reasonable grounds to believe that the communication of the information to him was in contravention of the Act.

Kalayarasan allegedly shared the information with Damandeep on three occasions in May, August and September 2019.

In a press release, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said Singapore takes a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and other criminal activities.

If convicted, both men may be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $2,000, on each charge.

Damandeep has been offered bail of $10,000, while Kalayarasan has been offered bail of $5,000.

They are both expected to be back in court for a pre-trial conference on June 8.

Those wishing to report a corruption case can call CPIB on 1800-376-0000, go to CPIB's website, or e-mail report@cpib.gov.sg

They can also visit or write to CPIB headquarters at 2 Lengkok Bahru.