Singapore's IME audited for spying

Singapore says US officials invited to inspect the work of a local research institute to probe spy claims have been 'satisfied' with the audit findings.

The state-linked Institute of Microelectronics (IME) was first thrust into the spotlight in February when the London-based Financial Times cast doubt on the apparent suicide of one of its former researchers - US electronics engineer Shane Todd, who was found hanged in his Singapore flat in June 2012.
It said his family suspected he was murdered because of his work on a joint IME project with Huawei Technologies involving gallium nitride, a semiconductor material with military and commercial applications. Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that US officials had completed a 'process audit' at the IME, after being invited to do so following allegations it was involved in an improper transfer of technology with Huawei.

'The US officials who came for the audit were satisfied with the audit,' the ministry said in the short statement.

Huawei - accused by US officials of involvement in espionage - and IME said they had only held preliminary talks on a potential project with commercial applications, but had not gone further.
A state coroner subsequently ruled in July that 31-year-old Todd took his own life during a bout of depression, debunking his family's conspiracy theory.

The family attended the coroner's inquest in May but angrily walked out after six days and flew home, saying they had 'lost faith' in the proceedings.

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