Winchester, Kentucky – On February 18 (Monday), the US citizen currently trending on social media for being accused of leaking the details of 14,200 HIV positive people from Singapore’s HIV registry appeared in a Kentucky courtroom on trespassing charges.
Mikhy Farrera Brochez, 34, arrived at the Clark County District Court in Winchester, Kentucky, the same place he was arrested and charged with third-degree criminal trespassing last December, without an attorney this time for refusing to leave his mother’s home.
He pleaded not guilty and told the judge that he perceives the Singapore Government to be interfering with his case. Judge Charles Hardin postponed the trial until March 4 on the account that the accused has rejected the claims and the charges having no possibility of jail time. Judge Hardin also informed Mr. Brochez that he was not informed about the latter’s allegations of any interference being made by the Singapore Government.
When he was approached by a reporter before the hearing and asked about the data leak from Singapore’s HIV registry, Mr. Brochez did not address the question. Although he previously told Vice News that the confidential information was illegally disclosed in 2012 and that he had notified and shared the data with the government and media sources. He also repeated his claim that he only acquired HIV after he was gang-raped in prison to which Singapore authorities are saying is “blatantly false.”
Mr. Brochez told the judge during the hearing that his mother, Ms. Teresa King, wanted to drop the case although she was not present at that time and couldn’t be contacted. He added that the case was interfering and causing difficulties with his ability to work. In response to his requests, Judge Hardin said that Ms. King did not have the right to dismiss the case and thus extended it for another two weeks.
According to Channel NewsAsia, Mr. Brochez declined to answer any questions when the hearing ended and was driven away in a white Mercedes SUV.
His history
In 2017, Mr. Brochez, who had worked as a psychology lecturer in Singapore, was sentenced to 28 months in jail for drug and fraud-related charges. He also faked a blood test and lied about his HIV-positive status in order to get a job. He met Singaporean doctor Ler Teck Siang, former head of the National Public Head Unit, started living together in Singapore in 2008, and got married in New York City in 2014. Dr. Ler Teck Siang was known to have access to the HIV registry as part of his profession.
After Mr. Brochez was deported last April 2018, Singapore’s Health Ministry announced on January 28 that he had leaked the online information from the HIV registry including the names, phone numbers, addresses, test results and medical information of the patients. The data leak covers 5,400 Singaporeans who are HIV-positive from 1985 to January 2013, and 8,800 foreigners diagnosed with HIV from 1985 to December 2011, their work and visit pass application details included.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong recently said in Parliament that the Singapore police would “spare no effort” in bringing the “pathological liar” to justice. He added that they are working with their American counterparts in the investigation.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Singapore has declined to comment.
Read more about Mr. Brochez revealing the identity of 13 HIV-positive inmates below:
https://theindependent.sg.sg/singapore-prison-files-report-against-u-s-citizen-and-former-inmate-for-revealing-the-identity-of-13-hiv-positive-inmates/
More on his initial claims below:
https://theindependent.sg.sg/mikhy-brochez-now-claims-he-did-not-steal-hiv-records-and-that-he-was-only-infected-with-hiv-when-he-was-raped-in-singapore-prison/