Ler Teck Siang, HIV data leak, gets more jail time for refusing to give urine for drug test

For refusing to give a urine sample to a Central Narcotics Bureau Officer, Ler Teck Siang of the massive HIV data leak infamy received a 10 months jail sentence on Deember 21.

Aside from the recent offense of refusing to submit to the urine test, he was also serving sentences related to leaking a list of HIV patients stored in a national database.

Previously, Alvinology reported on his case, which involved Siang and his lover at the time, Mikhy Farrera Brochez, who leaked the massive amount of data pertaining to HIV patients and their particulars in 2019. The data contained the HIV status of 14,200 patients in Singapore. While Siang was not the one who physically leaked the information, he admitted to mishandling the authority given to him.

What did Ler Teck Siang do this time?

According to Channel News Asia, the 39-year-old said that since there was no legal order for him to give a urine sample, he did not submit to the test, citing reasons such as the reliability of the test and his co-accused possibly sabotaging the test for him.

The court, on the other hand, rejected his reasons and said these were merely excuses.

Officers had mentioned that there would be consequences for not providing a urine sample, but Siang refused, citing human rights as his reason. He also said that if the officers had told him how much urine he would give and other particulars, he would not have failed to give the sample.

What was Ler Teck Siang previously guilty of?

Mikhy Farrera Brochez had used Ler Teck Siang, who had a position at the Ministry of Health’s National Public Health Unit, to conceal the former’s HIV-positive status. Siang headed a pertinent office from March 2012 to May 2013.

Aside from the mishandling of the information, Siang was given another 15-month prison sentence for drug offenses after it came to light that he consumed methampethamine with another co-accused.

He was first arrested at the Conrad Centennial Hotel on March 2, 2016, on suspicion of drug consumption. He got in trouble in this instance for failing to provide a urine sample by the deadline as well, despite requests from the officers.

Ler Teck Siang and the great HIV data leak

According to reports, Siang was the locum at My Family Clinic on Commonwealth Drive when he used his position to help Brochez get a positive result on his HIV test to work in Singapore.

The report said that Siang submitted his own blood in a test tube but labeled it as Brochez’s when the latter took the HIV test. Since the result had come up negative (using Siang’s blood), Brochez was able to land a job even with his fake credentials.

Siang and Brochez were in a relationship during the time both committed crimes, but the latter only made the leak when he was safely out of Singapore and he was separated from Siang. Brochez had kept a copy of the HIV data and leaked it from abroad. The leaked information included names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses, HIV test results and medical information.