If convicted of trafficking, Ler Teck Siang, 37, can be jailed for up to 20 years with 15 strokes of the cane.

Ler is accused of administering methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, to one Sim Eng Chee in a room at the Swissotel The Stamford hotel on Feb 26 last year.

Court documents do not reveal details about Sim.

Court documents do not disclose if he was arrested, but Ler is accused of failing to provide his urine sample at the Central Narcotics Bureau office in New Bridge Road about an hour later that same day.

Ler's trial for these drug-related charges will take place on May 29. He is also facing charges under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) related to the leak of HIV information.

The date for the OSA case has not been fixed.

According to court documents Ler had access to a registry which contained the names of people tested HIV-positive in Singapore prior to February 2012.

While working as the head of the National Public Health Unit in the Ministry of Health (MOH), he is said to have saved the information on a thumb drive. He allegedly failed to "take reasonable care" of the information by "failing to retain possession" of the thumb drive between March 2012 and May 23, 2016.

Ler, who does not have HIV, had submitted his own blood sample in place of his HIV-positive boyfriend Mikhy Farrera Brochez, to help the American get an employment pass here.

Following an earlier trial, District Judge Luke Tan found Ler guilty of helping Brochez deceive the Minis?try of Manpower into issuing him an employment pass in March 2008 and allowing him to keep the pass in November 2013 after red flags were raised.

In September last year, Ler was also found guilty of lying to the MOH in December 2013 and the police in January 2014, when he was questioned about a second blood test.

During his trial, Ler claimed he had given these statements under duress. His various allegations were rejected by Judge Tan.

Ler was sentenced last year to two years in jail and is appealing against his conviction and sentence. The prosecution has dropped its appeal against his sentence.

Even though Ler remains a doctor for now, his certificate to practise medicine here expired at the end of last year and has not been renewed. Brochez, 34, was sentenced to 28 months' jail in 2017 for offences including cheating, lying to a public servant, possessing drugs and using forged educational certificates. He was deported after completing his sentence.

Ler and Brochez are now at the centre of a high-profile data breach in the healthcare sector that came to light on Monday.



Read more : https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2019/02/01/doctor-to-stand-tria...