Dr Jipson Quah, 36, testified in court on 12 March 2025 that police officers pressured him to identify Iris Koh, the founder of Healing the Divide, as the “mastermind” of an alleged fake COVID-19 vaccination scheme in exchange for a bail recommendation.
Quah, currently suspended from medical practice, is on trial alongside his assistant, Thomas Chua, and Koh for allegedly conspiring to cheat the Health Promotion Board (HPB) by falsely certifying individuals as vaccinated with the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine when they were not.
The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022, and Quah is contesting 17 charges.
“He asked if she was my aunt, relative or lover”
During his testimony, Quah recalled a police interview in which an officer questioned his relationship with Koh.
“He asked if she was my aunt or relative or lover – I said ‘no’,” Quah testified. “I said, ‘Have you looked at her? She is old, fat and crazy’.”
His remark prompted laughter in the courtroom, including from Koh herself, who sat in the dock.
The trial, which began on 16 December 2024, has since entered an ancillary hearing—a trial within a trial—to determine the admissibility of six police statements.
Quah’s lawyer, Adrian Wee, objected to these statements being admitted, arguing they were recorded under circumstances involving threat, inducement, or promise.
“I broke down in the cell”
Quah recounted his arrest on 21 January 2022, detailing long hours of questioning without rest. He claimed he was awake for more than 26 hours at one point.
“I was first handcuffed – which shocked me greatly – then I was told to surrender my belongings and change into the remand uniform,” he said.
Describing his emotional state, he added: “I was crying in the cell. I was upset at my circumstance where I am now remanded for an alleged offence. I had a lot of work to deal with and get back to, and I had no idea of when things were going to get better, basically.”
At the time of his arrest, Quah was not only a medical doctor but also a lab consultant overseeing five laboratories, including one affiliated with A*STAR, with 14 people reporting to him.
Additionally, he was the sole owner of four GP clinics, employing 20 part-time and full-time doctors. His sudden detention meant that these operations were left without leadership, adding to his distress.
Quah also described how his mental health deteriorated. “By then, my emotional and psychological state were crumbling. I had negative thoughts about my circumstances, including thoughts of suicide,” he said
“When can I get bail?”
While in custody, Quah recalled an interaction with Investigation Officer (IO) Ng Shiunn Jye, who showed him a photograph of his son celebrating his birthday.
“I broke down again having seen the picture of my son and asked him, ‘When can I get bail?’”
According to Quah, IO Ng responded that he needed to cooperate with investigations for the police to recommend bail. IO Ng then offered him a canned drink and two pieces of barbecued pork.
“I had told him before that Oldenlandia water was my favourite drink, and I was surprised when he offered it to me,” Quah testified.
However, during a hearing on 6 March 2025, the defence highlighted that detainees (Persons in Custody) are not typically allowed to receive outside food.
ASP Ho Cher Hin, a senior officer overseeing the case, testified that this was against protocol, lending weight to the defence’s claim that the offering of barbeque pork was an inducement to encourage Quah’s cooperation.
Meeting with police supervisor
Quah then described being taken to another room to meet IO Ng’s supervisor, Head Investigation (HI) Tan Pit Seng. “I was a bit surprised because this was something new,” he said, denying that he had requested the meeting.
He recalled Tan’s appearance in detail: “He was wearing tailored clothes, nice shoes, his hair was neatly styled. And the most memorable thing was his watch—it was a beautiful Rolex GMT root beer model.”
During the meeting,HI Tan allegedly questioned Quah’s relationship with Koh, asking: “Why are you protecting Iris Koh, and who is she to you?”
Quah testified that he was taken aback by the line of questioning. “I was surprised to hear that because I didn’t think that I had been protecting anybody, least of all Iris Koh,” he said.
“I then explained that I barely know her, actually.”
On the stand the day before on 11 March 2025, HI Tan said that he could not remember asking Quah such a question, emphasising that he met Quah at Quah’s request to see IO Ng’s supervisor to discuss Quah’s well-being.
According to Quah, HI Tan pressed him further: “Since you are such a successful doctor making so much money—more than me at your age—you have no need to do such acts.” Quah replied, “You are right, I don’t.”
HI Tan then allegedly suggested, “So someone else must have done it.”
“I understood this to mean I had to implicate her”
Quah testified that HI Tan explicitly suggested that naming Koh as the mastermind would demonstrate remorse and cooperation, which could lead to a bail recommendation.
“He wanted me to say that she had been the mastermind of all these … allegations,” Quah said.
“The faster I provide this statement regarding Ms Koh, the faster investigations would be completed and correspondingly a bail recommendation.”
Feeling pressured, Quah said he agreed to implicate Koh in his upcoming statement.
“My son’s birthday was already over on the 28th. The first day of Chinese New Year was 1 February. I wanted to be out before then,” he said.
However, on 6 March, court testimony cast doubt on how this meeting between Quah and HI Tan came about.
- ASP Ho initially claimed that IO Ng informed him about Quah’s request to see a supervisor. However, when questioned further, Ho was unable to confirm whether he had asked HI Tan to attend or if HI Tan volunteered.
- Official police logs do not clearly record when Quah was moved between rooms. The defence pointed out that Quah’s movement records on 28 January show only one long period in two different interview rooms from 4:00 PM to 11:30 PM, but do not indicate when he was returned to his cell in between or moved to another room for the meeting with Tan.
- The defence argued that this discrepancy suggests the meeting with HI Tan was unofficial or off-record, strengthening the claim that Quah was coerced into implicating Koh.
The altered statement
After the meeting with HI Tan, Quah wanted to have his statement recorded. IO Ng then facilitated this by allowing Quah to add an additional portion to the printed statement that he had taken before the meeting.
The new portion was handwritten and set out to implicate Iris Koh as the “initiator” and “mastermind.” Quah claimed the addition was made closer to 11:00 PM, later than the recorded time of 8:20 PM.
When questioned by IO Ng about how long it would have taken to write the paragraph if there had been no meeting with HI Tan, Quah estimated 10 minutes. The printed statement had a concluding time of 8:10 PM.
Quah alleged that IO Ng then told him, “Just put 8:20 PM.” He further testified that IO Ng instructed him to treat the meeting with HI Tan as an event that “never happened.”
His testimony on 12 March came after the 6 March hearing, where the defence had already pointed out inconsistencies in police records regarding Quah’s movements on 28 January 2022.
During that earlier hearing, court discussions revealed that official logs do not clearly record when Quah was moved for the meeting with Tan, raising doubts about whether the meeting was properly documented.
The defence had argued on 6 March that these discrepancies suggest the meeting with HI Tan was off-record and potentially coercive.
This background provides further context for Quah’s 12 March testimony, in which he recounted how he was allegedly pressured into altering his statement to implicate Koh.
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