SINGAPORE – A woman entered a sexual relationship with a police inspector and loaned him $2,000 after he illegally helped her obtain information about her former husband’s theft case.

The Vietnamese woman, who was undergoing divorce proceedings, had told the policeman that she wanted to share the information with her lawyer.

Tran Thi Tien, 37, who is also a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to a week in jail on July 10 after she pleaded guilty to

an offence under the Official Secrets Act

At the time of the offence, Singaporean Chan Zhiyao was a senior investigation officer attached to the Special Victims Unit of Bedok Police Division.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie told the court that some time before Dec 2, 2020, Chan was assigned to investigate a case of child abuse involving Tien and her then-husband.

Without revealing details about the child abuse and theft cases, the DPP added that during an investigation, Tien told Chan that she was then undergoing divorce proceedings.

On Dec 9 that year, she told Chan that her former husband had stolen another person’s mobile phone at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 2016, and asked for the policeman’s help to obtain information about the case.

Chan later went on a work-related computer portal, conducted an unauthorised search with the former husband’s details, and obtained a report number linked to the case.

He sent Tien the report number via WhatsApp on Dec 10, 2020.

The pair’s case came to light during an investigation on Chan over unrelated matters.

Investigators also found out that Tien and Chan got into a sexual relationship on or around May 25, 2022.