A Montanan found dead in Singapore. Authorities in the Southeast Asian nation assert that he committed suicide, and are continuing an investigation with the assistance of the FBI. Now, the parents of the man from Marion, Montana say they have access to a hard drive detailing a questionable proposal between his former firm and the Chinese.
CNN has this:
Shane Todd of Montana was working abroad in Singapore on the latest cell phone and radar technology, coveted by global corporations.
In his last months, Todd expressed stress about his work and even fear for his life, his family said. He wondered if his work might be illegal or a risk to U.S. national security, his parents said.
After his death, Todd’s parents found that his hard drive contained a proposal between the Singapore outfit and a prominent Chinese telecom firm, Huawei, to build a powerful amplifier using gallium nitride technology.
Click here to read the full story, video can be seen below.
From The New York Times:
Among the discrepancies alleged by the family: Mr. Todd’s mother doesn’t believe her son wrote a suicide note, one of several allegedly found in his home, since information in it was wrong, she said. The bathroom where Singaporean investigators said he died didn’t show the holes in the wall and other things they said were used in his suicide, the Todds said, after inspecting the site shortly after his death. A pathologist hired by the parents in the United States after their son’s body was flown back said it showed signs of struggle, and ruled the death a homicide. A computer expert they hired said someone looked at some of Mr. Todd’s files in an external computer hard drive found in his apartment, days after his death, and tried to delete one.
Jerry Seper had this with The Washington Times:
A U.S. intelligence official who asked not to be identified said Huawei has been of recent concern to the U.S. over its sharing of telecommunications equipment with the Chinese government and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. In October 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei had become Iran’s leading provider of telecommunications equipment, including monitoring technologies that could be used for surveillance.
In October, a House intelligence subcommittee released a report that listed Huawei as a “national security threat” because of its suspected ties to various Chinese governmental agencies. The report suggested that the firm be barred from doing business with the U.S. government.
Comments
mel in Whitehall
Tuesday, March 05, 2013 11:06 PM
Spent some time in Singapore while in the oilpatch.
There is a very big issue of “saving face” there, along with an economy very dependent upon turists and shoppers. The “ready made” reason for the dealth does seem canned, when you hear the ME’s comments. Issues involving Nat Security and China raise many flags that surely need to be explored with un-tainted attitudes.
Singapore has a reputation for being one of the safest nation/cities in SEA – and, they will protect that image.