SINGAPORE - Iris Koh, the founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide, allegedly told more than 3,700 group members to harass doctors at vaccination centres in 2021 during Singapore’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

She also allegedly told members to hinder the work of staff at the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) by flooding their hotlines with calls to demand they follow up on their cases.

Koh, 48, who has been accused of making false representations to MOH, was given five new charges on May 9.

She now faces 14 charges in total, and appeared calm when they were read to her in court.

She was previously known by her full name, Iris Koh Shu Cii, but court records now show her name as Iris Koh Hsiao Pei.

Healing the Divide is a group formed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and claims to warn people about the dangers of vaccination.

Of her new charges, two are over abetting the obstruction of a public servant in their work.

On Oct 11, 2021, she allegedly encouraged 2,828 members of the “Healing the Divide Discussion” Telegram group chat to flood MOH and MSF hotlines with calls, demanding that they be escalated for follow-up by the ministries’ staff.

On the same day, Koh allegedly gave another 879 members in the “Healing the Divide Channel” Telegram group similar instructions. Court documents did not say what the calls were about.

Koh was also given two charges of abetting harassment on Dec 27, 2021, by purportedly instigating members in those two Telegram group chats to harass doctors at vaccination centres.

She allegedly advised parents of young children to book a Covid-19 vaccination slot for their child and question the doctor at the vaccination centre about vaccination safety.

She allegedly advised them to ask the doctor for permission to record their answers, and consider reporting them to the Singapore Medical Council if the doctor declined their request.

Koh was also given one charge of organising a public assembly without a permit.

On Nov 25, 2021, near Bedok Police Division Headquarters, she allegedly distributed T-shirts with the slogan “United We Stand for Choice – Healing the Divide” to her group’s members. She allegedly encouraged them to wear the T-shirts and took photos with them.

She was granted bail of $30,000. Her case will be next heard on May 17.

Koh had previously faced 10 charges. One of them, a holding charge – served when the police wish to remand suspects for a longer duration before investigations are complete – was discharged at the court mention on May 9.

Seven of her charges relate to alleged false representations made to MOH involving Covid-19 vaccination certificates.

She is accused of committing the offences with then general practitioner Jipson Quah, 36, and seven others – Mr Gary Tho Kong Choong, Mr Cedric Lim Junqi @ Mohammad Daniel Lim, Ms Amy Lee, Ms Carrie Tan Kia Lee, Mr Steven Teo, Mr Bobby Teo and one Goh Yao Zhen – on seven occasions between 2021 and 2022.

They had allegedly made false representations to MOH that Mr Tho, Mr Lim, Ms Lee, Ms Tan, Mr Steven Teo, Mr Bobby Teo and one Goh Tua Buk had been given the Sinopharm vaccine, when they had not.

They purportedly did this so they could each obtain a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19.

Koh also faces one count of fabricating false evidence, where she allegedly instigated one Tee Hui Yee on Nov 5, 2021, to be falsely certified to be of unsound mind.

Koh is also accused of tearing up a printed copy of her statement recorded on Jan 25, 2022, at Police Cantonment Complex.

Quah has been accused of falsely reporting to MOH that he had vaccinated certain patients against Covid-19, when he had injected them with saline solution.

He is also alleged to have uploaded the results of no fewer than 430 remote pre-event Covid-19 tests, in the last two weeks of December 2021, that were not compliant with the rules at the time.

This allowed the people who took the tests to attend events with invalid results.

Quah’s former clinic assistant, Thomas Chua Cheng Soon, is also said to have conspired with the doctor to make false representations to MOH about other individuals’ vaccination status.

Quah, who has been temporarily suspended from practising medicine, faces 17 charges in total, while Chua has seven charges. Their cases will be heard along with Koh’s on May 17.

Australian David Christopher Newton, who paid $6,000 to Quah and Chua to falsify vaccination records for himself and his wife, pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating in April 2023 and was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail. His jail term was reduced to 12 weeks upon appeal.