Brit soldiers’ personal info given to China-funded firm in feared security blunder
A CHINA-funded firm was given personal data of every Brit soldier — including the SAS — in a feared security blunder.
Defence chiefs signed a deal with facilities manager Pinnacle Group despite Chinese tycoon Terrence Tsang being the company’s biggest investor.
Chinese firms are required by law to pass data to the ruling Communist Party on demand.
London-based Pinnacle landed a £144million deal to “streamline and resolve” troops’ complaints over housing.
Mr Tsang, 47, who has links to multiple Chinese companies, was appointed to Pinnacle’s board in August 2021 — days after the deal was announced.
Insiders said housing contracts let Pinnacle staff see where soldiers, sailors and airmen lived.
A report by MPs warned Chinese firms and the Chinese state were “inextricably linked”.
But the MoD, headed by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, said: “We take information security very seriously and all Pinnacle staff working on the contract are UK-based and have passed relevant security clearance.”
The contract had been awarded “through the approved government process”, they added.
Pinnacle is majority-owned by holding company Tstar Pinnacle, which lists Mr Tsang as the only person with “significant control”.
But it said: “Shareholders and investors categorically do not have access to personal data.”