A drug dealer obtained the information from his girlfriend to get cough syrup while she was on duty and obtained the information from the clinic where he worked.
The clinic hired a private investigator for S$ 12, 000 ( US$ 9, 000 ) to uncover the crimes after a patient complained that someone else was taking her medicine.
Ng Kai Loon, a 36-year-old Singaporean man, was sentenced to jail for five months and two weeks on Monday ( Aug 12 ).
He pleaded guilty to three expenses including conspiring with his partner, Tan Tong Lin, to steal the doctor, and illegal access to computer stuff.
The prosecutor was informed that Ng used coughing sugar during the crimes. His partner, 42-year-old Tan, was working as a center associate at Dr Helen Tan Clinic in Jurong East Street 21.
Ng requested that Tan assist him in purchasing cough medicine from the center under the name of another patients around May 2021 to avoid the law that just 240ml of cough medicine may be sold to a individual over a nine-day period and to conceal the fact that he was the actual customer.
The doctor merely required patients to provide their names and Transistor numbers in exchange for free access to over-the-counter cough medicine.
Tan agreed and signed up for the patient’s patient data system, where he found a list of the details of 65 patients who had not visited the clinic in a while and who had not yet been logged in.
She shared the record with her boyfriend, who encouraged her to restore the system’s people ‘ messages so he could purchase cough sugar using their names.
In 2021, Ng visited the office on at least 25 times while Tan was on duty and purchased cough medicine using the labels of the people.
A person complained that the doctor had allowed someone else to bring in treatment under her title, leading to the discovery of the ruse, and the doctor hired a private inspector to investigate the incident.
Tan previously entered a guilty plea and was jailed for five decades.
The attorney sought five to seven months ‘ prison for Ng, citing his lengthy list of previous crimes including extortion, robbery, drugs and lying.
She claimed that Ng had encouraged Tan to misuse her position at the office because there was a great potential for harm in this case.
The different patients had suffered “intangible injury” by having their personal information misused, said the attorney.
Mr. Kalaithasan Karuppaya, the defense attorney, stated that his client was” certainly sorry” and “wants to change for the better” and demanded the “lowest possible word.”
He said Ng, who attended the reading via video-call from his position of trial, “regrets his steps” and is accepting role.
Ng looks after his household, including two stepsons, and has promised his prosecutor that he “does not wish to return to jail or judge” and rather “intends to be crime-free from this day on”, said the lawyer.
The prosecutor noted that Ng had benefited from the acts and that he had previously been found guilty of crimes comparable to those committed by his co-accused.