Police probe S'pore student for fake death notice of ex-PM Lee

A 16-year-old Singaporean student is being investigated by police for circulating a fake notice on the internet from the Prime Minister's Office which claimed that ailing former premier Lee Kuan Yew had died.
Local media reports cited a Singapore Police Force news release issued today which said the suspect was believed to have modified an earlier 2010 Prime Minister's Office (PMO) media statement hosted on its website and subsequently sent out a photo of the modified content on the night of March 18.
The suspect is a male Singaporean student, 16, and is believed to have operated alone, said the police statement.

He is being investigated for cybercrime offences and could face a SGD 50,000 fine or imprisonment up to 10 years or both.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sekher Warrier, has advised members of public not to spread falsehoods, warning police will take stern action against anyone who doctors a government website to spread false information to deceive the public.
Individuals who do so must be prepared to face the consequences under the law, he said.

The police had established the identity of the suspect within 24 hours, after the PMO had lodged a report about the false notice.
Police said it was alerted on March 18 at about 10 pm to multiple messages that were being circulated regarding a screenshot photograph of a statement purportedly from the PMO website, falsely claiming that Lee had died.

91-year-old Lee, the first prime minister of independent Singapore is critically ill and in intensive care in hospital.
Lee is considered the founding father of Singapore and is credited with transforming the city-state into an economic powerhouse within just three decades. He quit as prime minister in 1990 after 31 years in office.