Dickson Yeo, the Singaporean man convicted of helping Chinese intelligence gather information, has been issued an Order of Detention under the Internal Security Act for acting as a paid agent of a foreign state.

Yeo was arrested by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on December 30, 2020 following his deportation from the U.S., he had admitted to, and been charged with, acting within the United States as an "illegal agent of a foreign power without first notifying the Attorney General."

He was accused of using his political consultancy in the U.S. to collect information for Chinese intelligence services.

ISD’s investigations established that Yeo had worked for the intelligence apparatus of a foreign state and had carried out various taskings given to him by his foreign handlers in exchange for monetary gains.

Yeo admitted to being fully aware that his foreign handlers were working for the intelligence apparatus of the foreign state.

He was tasked to source for information and provide reports on issues of interest to his foreign handlers, including information relating to Singapore.

He had approached various individuals in Singapore in an attempt to obtain information for the purpose of writing his reports.

Yeo had set up a front company in Singapore as a cover for his information-gathering activities as well as recruitment for his foreign handlers.

He had also tried, but failed, to secure employment in the Singapore government sector to further his information-gathering activities.

Yeo had carried out these activities over a period from 2016 until his arrest in the US in 2019.

Investigations are still on-going, ISD says that Yeo's continued detention is "necessary to facilitate probes into the full extent of his activities".