Singapore: An American man who leaked confidential details of thousands of HIV-positive people in Singapore, most of them foreigners, has been jailed in the United States for two years.
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Mikhy Farrera Brochez was convicted by a Kentucky court in June for trying to extort the Singapore government using the stolen data.
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The 34-year-old had obtained the data from his partner, a senior Singaporean doctor who also helped Brochez conceal his HIV-positive status to get a work permit for the city-state.
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Confidential information including the names and addresses of 14,200 people diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS was dumped online.
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The leak caused anxiety among those with HIV, who have long complained of facing prejudice in socially conservative Singapore.
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Brochez was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison on Friday, said a statement from the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
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“The defendant’s conduct was serious and significant, affecting thousands of people across the world,” said US Attorney Robert M. Duncan Jr.
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The data included information on more than 50 American citizens, the statement said.
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Brochez will also be placed under supervision for three years after his release.
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He was jailed in Singapore in 2016 for lying about his HIV status, drug-related offences and fraud.
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He was deported in 2018 and then news emerged of the data leak, prompting his arrest in the US.
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Trial testimony showed that Brochez emailed the data to his mother in Kentucky and retrieved the information upon his return.
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Foreigners with HIV were for many years not allowed to set foot in Singapore at all.
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In 2015, authorities began allowing foreigners with the virus to make short visits, but those seeking to work in Singapore must still pass a HIV test.
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The data leak was the second major breach of confidential information disclosed within months, after the health records of about 1.5 million Singaporeans were stolen by hackers last year.
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