Traffic Police officer convicted for illegally accessing Home Affairs systems to aid friend’s criminal intimidation

A Singapore Traffic Police officer was found guilty of using MHA systems to help a friend identify and threaten a witness with death in 2022.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 27, 2026, 8:24 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from The Straits Times

Breach of Trust within the Ministry of Home Affairs

A significant breach of institutional security was revealed in court as Shivasuria Maniam Kesaval, a former Traffic Police investigation officer, was convicted of unauthorized access to the Ministry of Home Affairs' computer systems. Between July 14 and July 26, 2022, Shivasuria leveraged his official position to perform prohibited searches regarding a police report filed against his associate, Brayden Ong Ying Shan. These actions bypassed the fundamental security protocols governing the handling of sensitive state data, leading to a trial where District Judge Lim Tse Haw convicted the officer on five total counts related to computer misuse and the Official Secrets Act.

Collusion and the Exposure of Confidential Informants

The digital intrusion allowed Shivasuria to extract the personal particulars of a woman who had informed authorities that Ong was operating a vehicle without a valid license. According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin, the officer shared the specific timing and content of the initial incident report with Ong, which enabled the latter to correctly identify the informant. This collaboration occurred while Shivasuria was on active duty, though the police force later confirmed he was suspended in August 2022 once the illicit activities were uncovered. The prosecution emphasized that everyone in Shivasuria’s chain of command testified that his queries into Ong’s records were completely unauthorized.

Escalation to Criminal Intimidation and Death Threats

The consequences of the information leak manifested in a series of violent threats directed at the reporting witness. On July 15, 2022, Ong utilized the intelligence provided by Shivasuria to harass the woman, explicitly stating he would murder whoever had alerted the police. To bolster his intimidation tactics, Ong sent a photograph of Shivasuria to the victim, claiming he had a high ranking friend within the Traffic Police who could perform background checks on her family members. These actions led to Ong being found guilty of criminal intimidation, alongside his own violations of the Official Secrets Act.