Army captain sold classified information

Another sad case where gambling destroys lives and careers!

The Straits Times
Aug 27, 2011
Army captain sold classified information
Ex-SAF scholar who had gambling debts jailed for taking $53,000

By Khushwant Singh

HE HAD racked up about $100,000 in debts while gambling on cruise ships.

So when army captain Phua Poh Sim found a defence contractor willing to lend him money in return for classified information, he leapt at the chance.

The former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Overseas Merit Scholar handed over confidential data involving new combat uniforms and surveillance aircraft, and received more than $53,000 in return.

Yesterday, Phua's army career lay in tatters after he was sentenced to four months behind bars and fined $40,400.

District Judge Eugene Teo said the accomplished academic - who has at least three master's degrees including one from Britain's prestigious Cambridge University - had insulted his brothers-in-arms by 'peddling himself for a price'. He pointed out that the SAF 'operates on higher values and is driven by a noble mission'.

Phua confessed while being interviewed for promotion to major.

The 31-year-old comes from a military family. His father was a warrant officer and his brother a captain.

He committed his offences while he was a weapons staff officer between December 2007 and November 2008.

A colleague introduced him to Richard Yow Wah, the managing director of defence contractor Certified Aerospace. At one of their meetings at a karaoke lounge, Phua promised to help Yow obtain confidential information for certain projects. Soon after that, Phua confided to his new friend that Citibank was chasing him for repayments and pleaded for a $28,000 loan.

On May 3, 2008, he went to Yow's house in Serangoon Gardens and got the money in return for information on a proposal to purchase new combat uniforms. Phua was given a further $12,400 by Yow on June 28.

He also handed over classified data on the purchase of drone-like surveillance 'airships'.

Phua pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Three other charges of receiving 'loans' from Yow of $7,000, $1,700 and $4,000 were taken into consideration by the judge in the sentencing.

Before his fall from grace, Phua had served the army well, the court heard.

Enlisting as a regular in 1998, he was awarded the SAF Overseas Merit Scholarship to study at Imperial College in London and then at the University of Cambridge for a master's in philosophy.

His outstanding performance during officer cadet training earned him a stint at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri in the United States.

In 2006, he was offered the overseas postgraduate award to pursue a master's in defence technology and systems programme at Temasek Defence Systems Institute.

Through this programme, he attained a master's in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and a Master of Science (Defence Technology & Systems) from the National University of Singapore.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Adrian Ooi asked for him to be given a stiff sentence for 'bringing disgrace to the SAF'.

Arguing for only a fine, Phua's lawyer Quek Mong Hua said the offences would never have surfaced had his client not confessed during the interview. A harsh penalty would deter others from coming forward to give themselves up, he added.

Phua is now suspended with no pay, said Mr Quek. He added that his client has used his own academic excellence to tutor students with remarkable success.

The judge ordered Phua to pay a penalty of $40,400 - which is the amount he received in the two charges the court proceeded on.

He will also have to pay $200,000 to the SAF for failing to fulfil the conditions of several scholarships, the court heard.

Phua looked resigned as he was handcuffed and led away by a police officer.

Yow, 58, has been charged and his case has yet to be heard.

khush@sph.com.sg

i wonder what are the route for him when he comes out of jail?

What i am more puzzle is the situation he confessed.

he confessed during promotion interview..was he blackmailed by the defence contractor? a man of his academic calibre (3 masters) in the saf resorting to borrowing $ to repay gambling debt. i guess is a moment of folly and wrong time and wrong place in bad company. sometimes when one has good pay & ample free time like this case in the govt defence sector, one tend to stray unknowingly.

Pay not enough. Please raise the pay again to combat corruption

On a sidenote, I also worry for our "battle-harden" troops.
We have a captain who confessed without even being submitted to physical torture... hehe..

(27-08-2011, 01:07 PM)pianist Wrote: sometimes when one has good pay & ample free time like this case in the govt defence sector, one tend to stray unknowingly.

Yes right on...most are greedy, when sit on a no-brain , high pay job one tend to use the spare time a garner more money, i the end fall into the deep black hole and whole body smear with Sh**....1 must learn to be contended.

I'm somewhat dismayed at the light sentence that he got for what is essentially treason.

It send a wrong signal to others who may be tempted to do the same.

Of cos I know some of you may say, the info he disclosed isn't exactly 'top secret' stuff; but where and how do you draw the line?

Personally I think he got away lightly. But that just my opinion.

Wa seh... Saf interview must be very shiong.

Evidently we aren't paying cpib and saf personnel enough.

This is not the first Singapore Scholar who has fallen. There are many before him. Usually due to thinking they are very smart so there must be a short-cut in life for us special breed to get ahead. i think his case is very mild. He can survive quite nicely after paying his penalty. i think he is at least smart enough; he confessed his crime before reaching no return. That is he have to run away from Singapore and become a "refugee" in some other country. So he is still consider clever enough compare to people who are on the wanted list.

In that Warren Buffett MBA talk on youtube, he said a person was asked what 3 qualities you look for in a potential candidate for a job. The person says integrity, intelligence, and energy- in that order. Because if the candidate doesn't have the first one (integrity), you want them to be dumb and lazy. You don't want them to be smart and energetic. How true!