Police deny allegations US engineer's death not properly investigated

[rolleyez]

Verdict in Singapore: U.S. engineer Shane Todd killed himself

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By Kevin Lim and John O'Callaghan
SINGAPORE | Mon Jul 8, 2013 6:29am EDT

(Reuters) - American engineer Shane Todd committed suicide in Singapore last year, a coroner's inquiry in the city-state concluded on Monday, a verdict at odds with his family's belief that he was murdered because of his work.

The case had threatened to become a diplomatic issue as Senator Max Baucus, who represents Todd's home state of Montana, had pressed for more U.S. involvement in the investigation.

The possibility of damage to U.S.-Singapore ties appears to have diminished, even though Todd's parents have vowed to push for an investigation at home. They allege Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics (IME), where their son had worked, was involved in the transfer of sensitive technology to China.

After the verdict, the U.S. embassy in Singapore said: "The inquiry into Dr. Todd's death was comprehensive, fair and transparent". The statement expressed "heartfelt sympathy" to his family, friends and colleagues.

Todd, 31, died of "asphyxia by hanging" and there was "no foul play involved in the deceased's death," said the summary of the findings by District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt, issued after two weeks of testimony by dozens of witnesses in May. Singapore law requires an inquiry into any death not resulting from illness.

Singapore sees the case as closed but will be open to the Todds "if they want to talk to us, if they want to come over and look at things again", K. Shanmugam, the foreign minister and law minister, told Reuters.

"This is not a case like a civil litigation where one side wins and one side loses. It is a sad situation."

Through their lawyer, the Todds said they would issue a statement after they had gone through the 145-page report.

U.S. AUDIT OF SINGAPORE COMPANY

Todd was found hanging from the bathroom door of his apartment in June 2012, two days after he left his job at IME. He was researching an advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride (GaN) that has commercial and military uses.

Todd's parents believe he was murdered over what they said was his role in a project between state-linked IME and Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Shanmugam said a "process audit" of IME by U.S. officials had begun to allow them to "satisfy themselves there has been no such illegal transfer (of technology) as has been alleged".

"The process has started. It will be continuing through this month," he said, adding U.S. experts would arrive in mid-July.

Huawei and Singapore officials have denied the accusations, saying they did not proceed beyond initial discussions into a possible project involving GaN, which can be used in equipment ranging from mobile phone base stations to military radars.

The judge concurred.

"The potential GaN power amplifier project did not even materialize. Even if it did, which I did not find, the listed specifications show it would not have violated general export control laws, nor could it have been used for military applications," he said.

"(Todd) was not in possession of confidential and valuable classified information in the course of his employment."

Huawei has been blocked from some projects in Australia and is deemed a security risk by the U.S. Congress on the grounds that its equipment could be used for spying.

Rick and Mary Todd attended the inquiry for several days before pulling out and leaving Singapore, saying they had lost confidence in the system investigating their son's death.

"What has made us say that we can no longer stay here is the testimony from the beginning, saying they are always only looking at suicide, never murder," Rick Todd told Reuters Television on May 22. "The outcome was pre-determined."

During the inquiry, Singapore government lawyers presented forensic reports that showed Todd died by hanging, based on injuries around his neck. Their findings were backed by two U.S. pathologists, who said the manner of death pointed to suicide.

The parents walked out of the hearing after a U.S. medical examiner they had hired retracted a statement that Todd had been garroted and the judge refused their request to delay testimony by another witness so they could go through it.

The Todds' belief that their son was murdered was based on documents on a hard disk drive they said they found in his apartment. Singapore disputes the Todds' account, saying police had returned the hard drive to the family after examining it.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Ron Popeski)

 

[winnipegjets]

Shanmugam said a "process audit" of IME by U.S. officials had begun to allow them to "satisfy themselves there has been no such illegal transfer (of technology) as has been alleged".

"The process has started. It will be continuing through this month," he said, adding U.S. experts would arrive in mid-July.

Will the US government make public this audit? Congress should call these investigators for questioning.

 

[General Veers]

Huawei spies for China, says ex-CIA chief
AFP Updated July 20, 2013, 2:01 am

SYDNEY (AFP) - The former head of the United States' Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden said on Friday it "goes without saying" that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei spies for Beijing.

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Hayden claimed China was engaged in unrestricted espionage against the West and said it was his belief that Huawei would have shared information with state agencies.

Asked whether Huawei represented an unambiguous national security threat to the US and Australia, Hayden replied: "Yes, I believe it does".

Britain, the United States and Australia have all raised concerns that Huawei's alleged ties to the Chinese state could see telecoms equipment supplied by the company used for spying and cyber-attacks.

Huawei denies it has any direct links to the Chinese state, but the US Congress last year called for its exclusion from US government contracts and it was also barred from bidding for contracts to build Australia's national broadband network.

The retired general said he believed Western intelligence networks had hard evidence that Huawei had spied on behalf of the Chinese state.

"I have no reason to question the belief that's the case," said Hayden, who retired from the CIA in 2009 and who prior to that served as head of the National Security Agency (NSA).

"That's my professional judgement. But as the former director of the NSA, I cannot comment on specific instances of espionage or any operational matters.

"And, at a minimum, Huawei would have shared with the Chinese state intimate and extensive knowledge of the foreign telecommunications systems it is involved with. I think that goes without saying."

Huawei's John Suffolk, who has previously described the company as the "piggy in the middle" of the broader dispute over hacking between China and the United States, reportedly dismissed Hayden's comments as tired, unsubstantiated and defamatory.

"It's time to put up or shut up," Suffolk, Huawei's global cyber security officer, told the newspaper.

Hayden said Huawei had approached him several years ago to be on the firm's American board, but it had failed to convince him it should be involved in critical communications infrastructure.

"This is not blind prejudice on my part. This was my considered view based on a four-decade career as an intelligence officer," he said.

"My conclusion was that, 'No, it is simply not acceptable for Huawei to be creating the backbone of the domestic telecommunications network in the United States, period.'

"And frankly this is where I think the state has a role to play -- to ensure we don't make decisions that compromise the foundations of our national security."

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/12/2013 22:18 | By Channel NewsAsia

Singapore Police, FBI "engaged constructively" in Shane Todd's case

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have a long-standing, open and cooperative relationship, and this has been extended to the investigation of the death of American researcher Shane Todd.

Singapore's Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said this in a written reply to Nominated MP Eugene Tan, who had asked in parliament how the two sides had cooperated on the case.

Associate Professor Tan had also asked how the government ensured that the investigations would not be influenced by external pressure and international publicity.

In his answer, Mr Shanmugam said the Singapore Police and the FBI engaged constructively in the case, and were committed to ensuring that the investigation was thorough and all relevant evidence was made available during the coroner's inquiry.

The police shared their investigation findings with the the FBI and sought its assistance in some matters that were within US jurisdiction.

Mr Shanmugam said US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Attorney-General Eric Holder both understood that the FBI had no jurisdiction over investigations in Singapore.

They had therefore appreciated the extra steps that the Singapore Police had taken to share the evidence and their investigative findings with the FBI.

Dr Todd, who had worked with the Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics, was found hanged in his Chinatown apartment in June 2012.

His parents believe he was murdered.

However, the coroner's inquiry into the death found the American researcher had, beyond reasonable doubt, committed suicide by hanging himself.

Following the coroner's verdict in July this year, the US Embassy in Singapore issued a statement saying the inquiry into Dr Todd's death was "comprehensive", "fair" and "transparent".

Mr Shanmugam noted that the case had attracted intense media speculation even before the inquiry had begun.

There were various allegations based on unsubstantiated speculation which impugned the integrity and efficacy of the Singapore Police.

Mr Shanmugam said the Singapore authorities chose not to respond to the allegations as they recognised that the truth could only be arrived at through careful examination of the evidence, and not through speculation and sensationalist reporting. - CNA/ir

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Shane Todd inquiry will not soil good relations with US: Shanmugam

AsiaOne
Monday, Aug 12, 2013

SINGAPORE - Member of Parliament, Assoc Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene, asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the following questions with regards to the investigations into the death of Dr Shane Todd.

The questions are: (a) how did the Singapore Police Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation cooperate in the investigations into the death of Dr Shane Todd; (b) how does the Government ensure that investigations will not be influenced by external pressure and international media publicity; (c) whether, at the meeting with the Foreign Minister on 12 March 2013, US Senator Max Baucus has indicated that he and Senator Jon Tester will move legislation to block funding to the Institute of Microelectronics (IME); (d) what is the amount of funding that IME has obtained from the US Government and other US sources over the last five years; and (e) whether the findings of the process audit of IME by US officials into allegations of illegal transfer of technology, when completed, will be made public.

Here is Mr K Shanmugam's written reply in full:

A public Coroner's Inquiry was held, as required by law, in May, June and July this year. A total of 74 witnesses gave evidence. The Coroner found that there was no foul play involved in Dr Todd's death and that he had committed suicide by hanging.

Our Police and the FBI have a longstanding, open and cooperative relationship. This extended to the investigation into Dr Todd's death. Both sides engaged constructively in this matter, and were committed to ensuring that the investigation was thorough and all relevant evidence was made available during the Coroner's Inquiry. The Police shared their investigation findings with the FBI, and sought their assistance in respect of some matters falling within the jurisdiction of the United States. They worked with the FBI to obtain the Todd family's cooperation and assistance in the investigations.

One example of how the FBI assisted was with regard to the hard-disk drive which Mr and Mrs Todd claimed to have found in Dr Todd's apartment. This was a central claim in their homicide theory. Mr and Mrs Todd claimed that they found the hard-disk drive in Dr Todd's apartment, and that it had been accessed by an unknown third party who had deleted a particular file. This was not true. The Singapore Police Investigation Officer found the hard-disk drive. He gave it to Mrs Todd after checking its contents. The Investigation Officer had accessed the hard-disk drive and not some unknown third party. The FBI gave a report which confirmed what the Singapore Police said.

The discussions between the Police and the FBI were acknowledged as being "productive and forthright" by the US Embassy in its press statement on 21 March 2013. We were always clear, however, that the FBI had no power to intervene in the investigations, which were strictly under the purview of the Singapore Police Force. US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Attorney-General Eric Holder both understood that the FBI had no jurisdiction over investigations in Singapore. They therefore appreciated the extra steps that our Police had taken to share the evidence and their investigative findings with the FBI.

One of the features of this case was that there was intense media speculation even before the inquiry had begun. On 15 February 2013, an article was published in the London edition of the Financial Times entitled "Death in Singapore", written by Raymond Bonner and Christine Spolar.

In that article, the authors made wide ranging claims against Dr Todd's employer, the Institute of Microelectronics (IME). These claims were based on unsubstantiated speculation, and impugned the integrity and efficacy of the Singapore Police Force. Our authorities chose not to respond to the various allegations made prior to the Inquiry, as they recognised that the truth could only be arrived at through a careful examination of the evidence, and not through speculation and sensationalist reporting. Dr Todd's family participated in the inquiry and had the opportunity to raise their concerns.

However, as members will know, they walked out of the inquiry after their key witness Dr Edward Adelstein changed his original testimony and confirmed that Dr Todd was not killed by garrotting. Even though the family walked out of the inquiry, their written statements were presented to court in their absence, and the issues they raised were comprehensively dealt with by the Coroner in his written 42 610 findings. Members may wish to know, that Mr Bonner also left the inquiry pre-maturely, soon after the parents had walked out.

Given the serious allegations about illegal transfers of US technology to the Chinese company Huawei, we also made the offer to host a US team to conduct a process audit at IME for the US to satisfy itself that we take the protection of intellectual property rights very seriously. The audit has been conducted. We have not received any follow-up questions from the US so far.

Minister Shanmugam had met with the Montana Senator Max Baucus during his visit to Washington DC, and conveyed the same assurances and offers as he did to Secretary Kerry and US Attorney-General Holder. He informed Senator Baucus that the Todd family would be invited to attend the Coroner's Inquiry during which they could question the witnesses as well as the investigative findings and forensic reports. He also pointed out that Dr Todd was involved in only one minor project with Huawei which did not involve Gallium Nitride - the substance which has fuelled the wild media speculation on the nature of IME's work with Huawei. The value of the nine-month project was less than S$15,000, and Dr Todd's actual involvement in this project was only over a few days. While IME did discuss a possible project with Huawei involving Gallium Nitride, this project never materialised.

Senator Baucus did not inform Minister Shanmugam during the meeting of his intention, together with Senator Jon Tester, to table the Amendment to the Continuing Resolution which will block US funding to IME. In view of the assurance Minister Shanmugam had already given, and Singapore's long track record of taking our public commitments seriously, we were of course deeply disappointed when we learnt of it. We gave our response on 17 March 2013. However, we must understand that the US has its own unique political culture which imposes its own demands on its legislators. The US Senate has since passed the Continuing Resolution without the Senators' amendment. Members will draw their own conclusions from this.

With regard to the Member's question on US funding received by IME, IME is a national research institute funded by and under the purview of A*STAR. It receives about S$53 million of research funding annually from A*STAR. In addition, the institute receives another S$10 million annually in funding through joint project collaborations with industry and other research organisations. Over the last five years, IME received a total of just under S$875,000 of research funding from US government sources. The funding IME received from the US entities was for research collaborations conducted with them.

In summary, the Singapore Government made every effort to be open and cooperative, which the US Administration appreciates. Following the delivery of the Coroner's findings, the US Embassy released a statement on 8 July 2013 describing the Coroner's Inquiry as "comprehensive, fair and transparent". We have to understand that the American political system is such that its Congressmen often have to take steps like those taken in this matter. We are however not a country that bows to external pressure or media reports as our long track record has shown. The US Administration knows well that Singapore has a longstanding, open and strong relationship with the US based on shared interests and mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas, including economic, defence and security. We do not believe that the US Administration would jeopardise this strong relationship on the basis of inaccurate allegations.

What was expected by the US Administration, and which is also our own expectation, is that this matter be dealt with transparently and in accordance with the rule of law, and that we do everything to get to the truth. This has been done and as such, we do not expect that this incident should have any bearing on our good relations with the US. PM Lee had a good visit to the US in April, where he had useful discussions with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other leaders within the US Administration, on bilateral cooperation and developments in the region. We were also pleased to welcome Vice President Biden to Singapore last month, where he had good meetings with the President, PM and former Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew. This exchange of visits at the highest level is a strong reflection of the state of our bilateral relationship with the US.

 

[winnipegjets]

What was expected by the US Administration, and which is also our own expectation, is that this matter be dealt with transparently and in accordance with the rule of law, and that we do everything to get to the truth. This has been done and as such, we do not expect that this incident should have any bearing on our good relations with the US. PM Lee had a good visit to the US in April, where he had useful discussions with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other leaders within the US Administration, on bilateral cooperation and developments in the region.

He is so ignorant. It is Congress that he needs to be worried about.