U.S. court finds American guilty in Singapore HIV data leak case
New Delhi/Singapore, Jun.6(HS): A U.S. court has found an american citizen guilty for leaking the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive people in Singapore. The court found that he illegally transferred personal data and threatened the Singapore government.
Earlier, Singapore deported Mikhy Farrera-Brochez, the convict of numerous drug-related and fraud offences, including lying about his own HIV status. The health ministry said in January Farrera-Brochez had disclosed online the personal information of 5,400 citizens diagnosed with HIV up to January 2013, and of 8,800 foreigners diagnosed up to December 2011.
A U.S. District Court jury in Kentucky found Farrera-Brochez guilty for obtaining the HIV data and sending threatening emails to Singapore officials that included links to where he had posted the database online.
“A federal jury has found Mikhy Farrera-Brochez … guilty of two counts of sending threatening communications to the Government of Singapore and its Ministry of Health,” a filing on the U.S. Department of Justice website said.
“The jury also found Farrera-Brochez guilty of one count of possessing and transferring the means of identity of other people in interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to commit, or in connection with, another crime,” it further added.
Farrera-Brochez, basically from Winchester, Kentucky, faces up to two years in prison on each of the two counts of sending threatening communications, and up to five years for possessing and transferring identity information. His lawyer, Adele Burt Brown, said in an emailed response to questions that Farrera-Brochez was disappointed with the conviction. Brown said she expected a prison sentence of 10 to 24 months.
The case of HIV data leak came forth after a major cyber attack last year on Singapore’s national health database.
