Central Kentucky man center of Singapore HIV registry leak investigation
A central Kentucky man is at the center of an international investigation into stealing and leaking records of 14,200 people living with HIV.
The Singapore Ministry of Health said Tuesday that Lexington native Mikhy K. Farrera Brochez recently put the records online after being deported from the Asian country. The ministry said the records include HIV test results, names, identification numbers, phone numbers, addresses and other health information.
The ministry said it has disabled future access to the information but believes "it is still the possession of the unauthorized person and could still be publicly disclosed in the future."
It said Brochez worked in Singapore for a period before he was jailed for several drug and fraud-related offenses and deported in May 2018. In December, he was arrested on trespassing charges outside his mother's Clark County home.
"The Straits Times" of Singapore reports Brochez told a reporter over the phone he's currently homeless and jobless living back in Lexington. The newspaper also says Brochez says the charges against him are "terribly nasty and inaccurate."
The ministry said his partner, who headed the ministry's National Public Health Unit from March 2012 to May 2013, had access to the confidential information which Brochez obtained.
On January 22, the health ministry was notified that more information from the HIV registry could still be in the illegal possession of Brochez and he had disclosed the information online.
Singapore authorities are investigating and authorities are seeking help from foreign counterparts.
