Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh and two men arrested for allegedly falsifying Covid-19 vaccine records
The founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide Iris Koh has been arrested along with a doctor and his assistant, for allegedly conspiring to cheat and submit falsified vaccination records to the Ministry of Health (MOH), The Straits Times understands.
In a statement on Sunday (Jan 23), police said they had arrested two men, aged 40 and 33, and a 46-year old woman on Friday.
The police said they began investigations after receiving a report from MOH about the trio's alleged offences under the Infectious Diseases (Antigen Rapid Test Providers) Regulations 2021, and for submitting false information to the National Immunisation Registry to falsely indicate that Covid-19 vaccines had been administered to individuals.
They added that another eight people are being investigated for their suspected involvement in this conspiracy.
Following their preliminary investigations, the police said the doctor and his assistant had allegedly conspired to cheat MOH by submitting false information on behalf of individuals.
This was done so that MOH would then issue Certificates of Vaccination against Covid-19 in the TraceTogether app to these individuals, even though they had not received the full course of vaccination.
The police said people believed to be members of the group would be referred to the doctor by Ms Koh.
Ms Koh was already under investigation for allegedly inciting members of her group to disrupt public hotlines, including those that were used to help with Covid-19 issues.
She was to be charged in court with an offence of criminal conspiracy to cheat.
The two men were charged on Friday with an offence of abetment by conspiracy to cheat and are being held in remand for further investigations.
A person found guilty of abetment by conspiracy to cheat or criminal conspiracy to cheat can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
The police said they take a very serious view of conduct which may pose a public health risk amid the national fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and offenders will be dealt with sternly.
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