Mikhy Brochez, American woman wanted in Singapore for HIV data leak, arrested at her mother's home in the United States for criminal assault

SINGAPORE: An American suspected of divulging the personal details of 14,200 people in Singapore's HIV registry was found in a small county in Kentucky, USA, where he was charged with attempting to break into the home of his family. his mother.

Mikhy K Farrera-Brochez, 34, was arrested at his mother's home in Clark County, Winchester, Kentucky, last December, according to court and arrest documents seen by Channel NewsAsia.

The Singapore Ministry of Health announced on Monday (January 28th) that Brochez disclosed online the personal information of 14,200 HIV-positive people.

The former speaker was jailed in 2016 for lying about his HIV status in order to obtain a work permit in Singapore.

Broche, who was also convicted of fraud and drug-related offenses, was sentenced to 28 months in prison.

READ: Anxious and frustrated seropositive after MS data leak

In April of last year, he was expelled from Singapore, but he is again wanted because of the data leak.

"We seek the badistance of our foreign counterparts in our investigations. It is inappropriate to comment further on the case while investigations are ongoing, "said the Singapore police in a statement, without specifying any country.

Ms. Camille Dawson, spokeswoman for the US Embbady in Singapore, said the embbady could not comment on the ongoing investigations.

TRESPASS AND ARREST

Broche was arrested on December 8 at the home of his mother Teresa King, in Clark County, after calling the local sheriff's office to complain that he was knocking on his door.

On September 29, Brochez was warned not to return to his mother's house after attempting to force-in, otherwise he would be arrested for criminal offenses. But he returned home on December 8th.

"Upon his arrival, this member observed the aforementioned suspect [Brochez] sitting on the porch of the residence, "said the arrest quote.

"After talking with T. King, she indicated that she did not want the aforementioned suspect to be on his property and that he had already been warned that he would not be on the property.

READ: HIV Data Leak: What We Know about Mikhy Farrera Broche

"This MP informed the suspect of the past warning and the suspect was ordered to leave on many occasions, but the suspect wanted to continue asking for information about the property that T. King had on him. and wanted to talk to the sheriff. "

He was later arrested, detained and transferred to the Clark County Detention Center. A detention center spokesman told Channel NewsAsia that Brochez had been arrested and was on bail.

Broche was sentenced to appear in District Court on February 18 to be charged with third degree criminal trespbad.

The largest shopping centerData leak

The files disclosed online included 5,400 Singaporeans diagnosed with HIV from 1985 to January 2013 and 8,800 foreigners, including applicants and work and visiting permit holders, diagnosed with HIV from 1985 to December 2011.

It included their names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses, HIV test results, and medical information.

The Ministry of Health said the information was leaked by Brochez, an HIV-positive American living in Singapore since 2008, who still holds him.

He had a romantic relationship with Ler Teck Siang, a Singaporean doctor who headed the Ministry of Health's National Public Health Unit from March 2012 to May 2013.

They started living together in Singapore in 2008, before getting married in New York on April 24, 2014.

Ler was authorized to access information from the HIV registry, and he is suspected of mishandling this information and was suspected of not complying with the policies and guidelines for dealing with this confidential information. He resigned in January 2014.

In May 2016, the Ministry of Health filed a police report after receiving information that Brochez still held the confidential information in the register.

At that time, Brochez was remanded in custody and sentenced to 28 months in prison. He was expelled last year and the Ministry of Health received information that he still had some of the archives.

READ: HIV data reveal "criminal act to be condemned" – Action for AIDS

While the information was not yet public at that time, the police were informed and the people involved were contacted.

But on January 22, the police told the Ministry of Health that Brochez still had some of the information and that it had now been disclosed online.

WHO IS PIN?

Broche had fooled the Department of Manpower by issuing him a work permit after his arrival from America in 2008.

On two occasions, Ler gave a sample of his own blood to submit as Broche so that the American could hide his HIV status.

But the trick was discovered and when the police raided their property, she discovered several fake education certificates that were issued to her.

These included a degree in linguistics from Vanderbilt University, a master's degree in developmental psychology and children, and a doctorate in psychology and education from the University of Paris. A vocational certificate has also been entered. The investigations showed that they were all counterfeited.

A Bahamian pbadport, bearing the name Malatesta da Farrera-Brochez, was also found in a safe.

READ: Gan Kim Yong says Ministry of Health supports HIV-positive people affected by data leak

Brochez had made presentations and lectures at several international conferences for academia and research. In an interview with a local newspaper in 2010, he claimed that he spoke eight languages ​​and was a "successful lab rat" of his mother, Teresa King, believed to be a renowned teacher of child psychology. and the teenager in the UK.

But there was no psychologist in the UK with such qualifications. When the British newspaper The Independent contacted a British psychologist licensed under the name given by Broche, she said that Broche was not her son and that she had no specializations in this area.