SINGAPORE — Mikhy Farrera Brochez, the American fraudster who is believed to have leaked confidential information from Singapore’s HIV registry, was charged on Friday (Feb 22) with the possession and unlawful transfer of stolen identification documents, the US Department of Justice said in a news release.

“The criminal complaint alleges that Farrera-Brochez illegally possessed and intended to distribute data containing sensitive medical and other identifying information,” the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Kentucky, said.

“While living in the Eastern District of Kentucky, Farrera-Brochez sent links to the data from his e-mail account to several news outlets. He also sent e-mails to several government officials in Singapore containing links to the data.”

Brochez will next appear in court on Feb 27. On Monday, he appeared in court on trespassing charges after having been arrested in December and charged with criminal trespassing for refusing to leave his mother's home.

Brochez made headline news in January when Singapore's health ministry announced he had leaked the HIV-positive status of 14,200 people, along with confidential information such as their identification numbers and contact details.

He was deported from Singapore in April 2018 after serving 28 months in jail for fraud and drug-related offences, one of which was lying about his HIV status to gain an employment pass.

Commenting on the latest development, Singapore's Ministry of Health and police said in a joint statement the Republic's authorities "are aware that Brochez has been arrested and charged in court in Kentucky, USA", and they have been working closely with their US counterparts. "Concurrently, we have also filed civil proceedings in the US courts, and are doing everything we can to protect the interests of the individuals affected," the statement added.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said in Parliament recently that the Singapore police will “spare no effort” in bringing Brochez to justice and that they are "engaging their American counterparts and are seeking their assistance in the investigations against Brochez".

Investigators had also found that Brochez lied about his educational qualifications to apply for jobs, having forged certificates from the likes of Vanderbilt University and the University of Paris.

After Singapore's announcement of the leak, he attempted to clear his name through several posts on Facebook. But authorities refuted his claims and called him "a pathological liar".

"Mikhy Brochez lied about the identity of his mother, he lied about his own identity in his passport, he lied about his educational qualifications, he lied about his HIV positive status, and he is now lying about what he did," Senior Minister of State for Health and Law Edwin Tong had said. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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