The 37-year-old doctor who was at the centre of the HIV data leak in Singapore is currently facing a trial for his suspected involvement in selling illegal drug injections to customers when other criminal proceedings against him were ongoing.
The doctor, Ler Teck Siang, had been charged in June 2016 for abetting Mikhy Farrera Brochez, his partner to cheat the Ministry of Manpower so he could work in Singapore. Now, as per the court details, Ler is accused of using his medical skills to provide illegal injections to the customers.
However, when the trail started in the court on Thursday, Ler, who was dressed up in purple prison jumpsuit, told the District Judge Christopher Goh that he was not guilty. He also asked the judge that since he is representing himself, he would need a pen and paper.
Ler is facing two charges in the trail that includes trafficking methamphetamine to a man at a hotel room on February 26, 2018, and possessing drug utensils.
The prosecution told the court that the accused had administered meth to a man, Sim Eng Chee for free in one hotel, then On March 2, he again met the same customer at another hotel. The court also heard that one of the hotel staff discovered drugs and drug-related paraphernalia in Sim's room. When Ler and Sim approached the reception, they were detained and arrested.
As per the prosecution, several items, such as a used syringe, two straws, a bottle and three packets with crystalline substances, were seized from these two offenders.
During the trail, the Deputy Public Prosecutors Nicholas Wuan and Desmond Chong told the court that this is one of those medical practitioners "who knows no bounds in betraying his professional and ethical standards in pursuit of his self-interests".
The court documents revealed that Ler was sentenced to two years of jail term in November 2018 for helping his partner to cheat the government agency about Brochez's HIV-positive status and for giving false information to the Ministry of Health and the police.
The next hearing will take place on Friday, May 31 and if the court finds him guilty of trafficking and administering meth, he could face a jail term, up to 20 years, including 15 strokes of the cane. He can also face imprisonment for three years, a maximum S$10,000 or both, for possessing drug utensils.
Mikhy Farrera Brochez and HIV data leak:
Brochez, the US citizen, was the accused of hacking personal information of thousands of Singaporean people from country's HIV registry and threatened the government to leak the data if it did not release his partner.
Brochez faced charges in US court for illegal transfer of stolen data with an intent to distribute the documents.
AS reported by Channel NewsAsia, when Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Chelsea Holliday and another officer met with Brochez, he accused Singapore government of "kidnapping, lying, forging documents, falsely imprisoning him, impersonating police officers and allowing Brochez to be raped in prison."
However, the Ministry of Health debunked his "baseless allegations" and called him a "pathological liar".
