California Woman Is First To Face Federal Charges For Fake Vaccine Cards

[TrappedinCalifornia]

For those who have either facetiously or 'seriously' been suggesting that people fake a vaccine card, something to consider...

California Woman Is First To Face Federal Charges For Fake Vaccine Cards

[as_rocketman]

Seeing as she was defrauding her customers (I assume), I don't see a problem with this indictment. Although one could assume some of her customers knew perfectly well what was up and just wanted the card...

... then again, they're not hard to forge. You could run off a very convincing one on any printer with just some cardstock and blank labels. No reason to spend big money for one.

[HKAllTheThings]

[TrappedinCalifornia]

Seeing as she was defrauding her customers (I assume), I don't see a problem with this indictment. Although one could assume some of her customers knew perfectly well what was up and just wanted the card...

... then again, they're not hard to forge. You could run off a very convincing one on any printer with just some cardstock and blank labels. No reason to spend big money for one.

Here is part of the U.S. AG's statement, linked to in the article...

...“This defendant allegedly defrauded and endangered the public by preying on fears and spreading misinformation about FDA-authorized vaccinations, while also peddling fake treatments that put people’s lives at risk. Even worse, the defendant allegedly created counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards and instructed her customers to falsely mark that they had received a vaccine, allowing them to circumvent efforts to contain the spread of the disease,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people from fraudsters during this national emergency. This commitment is evident in this prosecution as well as in the ongoing work of the Department and our agency partners in the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force established by the Attorney General earlier this year.”...

Note the portion considered by the AG to be "even worse" than "peddling fake treatments."

I don't see a problem with the indictment either.

But, remember, there are a good number of posts on this site "advising" that people should create 'fake' cards. The point being that such may not be without potential consequence.

[Sgt. J Beezy]

Seeing as she was defrauding her customers (I assume), I don't see a problem with this indictment. Although one could assume some of her customers knew perfectly well what was up and just wanted the card...

... then again, they're not hard to forge. You could run off a very convincing one on any printer with just some cardstock and blank labels. No reason to spend big money for one.

Throw all the non-vaxxers in prison!





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[elSquid]

The PR release:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/napa-woman-arrested-fake-covid-19-immunization-and-vaccine-card-scheme

Man, it's a sad day when you can no longer trust a naturopath to provide sound, evidence based healthcare.

I wonder what's in the pills? Maybe they didn't contain any COVID-19 at all!



Anyways, the criminal complaint

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/press-release/file/1412186/download

-- Michael

[as_rocketman]

Here is part of the U.S. AG's statement, linked to in the article [...]

Note the portion considered by the AG to be "even worse" than "peddling fake treatments."

I don't see a problem with the indictment either.

But, remember, there are a good number of posts on this site "advising" that people should create 'fake' cards. The point being that such may not be without potential consequence.

Point taken. You expect to see that kind of grandstanding from an A.G.

It does prompt the question, though, how would you charge someone who only made a fake card for him or herself? That's not wire fraud anymore. I'm not sure how or even if you could charge that, except the ticky-tack "making false statements related to health care matters?" Is that even an infraction??

ETA: If I read it right, that's actually fairly severe, but it only seems to apply to delivery of or payment for health care services or products. I don't think this would apply to someone making a card for themself.

[SPUTTER]

Doesn't matter. They already have an electronic passport system waiting to be deployed and they will claim it's because people are making fakes.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

Point taken. You expect to see that kind of grandstanding from an A.G.

It does prompt the question, though, how would you charge someone who only made a fake card for him or herself? That's not wire fraud anymore. I'm not sure how or even if you could charge that, except the ticky-tack "making false statements related to health care matters?" Is that even an infraction??

I was about to suggest that it depends on the context, then I found this... Yes, you could face legal consequences for lying about your vaccination status

...Robinson said it depends on the situation. She said if someone is using a fake vaccine card, they could face forgery charges by the state of Ohio. If the fake card also has a fake CDC logo – they could also face federal forgery charges.

“So both of those come with jail, prison time respectively and fines as well,” she said...

Nice to have someone 'agree' with me.

As a bit of a follow-up or, more likely, where that attorney got the idea... Fake COVID Vaccine Cards Are Being Sold Online. Using One Is A Crime

...Fake vaccine cards not only have a negative impact on public health, the FBI said, but they're against the law — unauthorized use of an official government agency's seal can be punished with a fine or up to five years in prison...

In response to those cases, New York legislators started the process of making it a felony to forge or possess fake immunization records, including COVID-19 cards. Last week, the New York State Senate passed legislation, S.4516B.

Bill sponsor Sen. Anna M. Kaplan said in a press release, "We're already seeing anti-vaxxers spread tips online for how to create fake cards in order to get around vaccination mandates, and we need to put a stop to this effort to defraud the public so that our recovery from the pandemic can keep moving forward."

The point is that it wouldn't take much 'creativity' on the part of a prosecutor at the moment and legislators are already taking steps. Forgery. Endangering public safety. Fraud. Couple such with the intent/context.

So what might be or come across as 'ticky-tack' or a bit of a stretch at the moment, may soon be a bit more definitive. Remember, as of last year, 37 states have laws that criminalize HIV exposure, utilizing charges including reckless endangerment and attempted murder.

What about California? California AG: Buying or printing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards is a crime It covers much the same ground.

[SPUTTER]

I'm sure there are thousands out there with cards they got them legitimately without taking any shots.

[as_rocketman]

The point is that it wouldn't take much 'creativity' on the part of a prosecutor at the moment and legislators are already taking steps. Forgery. Endangering public safety. Fraud. Couple such with the intent/context.

True. "Creative" DA's are a blight on liberty, though. Forgery sounds awfully severe for something like this, particularly how ubiquitous the cards are and how easy they would be to copy or modify, but I can see them going for it.

It's sure to be a real train wreck going forward, at this rate.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

...It's sure to be a real train wreck going forward, at this rate.

At this rate, it's more likely to be a wreck on a wreck that wrecked on a wreck.

[FPJr615]

Doesn't matter. They already have an electronic passport system waiting to be deployed and they will claim it's because people are making fakes.

California has a site to pull up a digital copy of card. The paper card will be worthless in a short amount of time.


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[kbelles]

CA digital card site

To use the CA site, you have to have an account and software, not everybody can do it. In addition, it's only good for a short period of time. Not a passport or replacement.

To get the US digital vax passport, you have to have Facebook, right? Isn't that where you post your vax card? Or is it Instagram or TikTok? Seems I can never keep up with these things....

Personally, a encrypted photo of vax card+ID on your phone sounds like a good idea. Make me decrypt the photo, show my ID AND the vaxcard photo (match with my face/stats), leave the original at home.

[SPUTTER]

^ Excellent but I have a better idea. How about a vaccination that leaves a code or mark on the skin that can only be read under a special camera. This way nobody can escape the vaccination because there will be additional boosters to deal with future variants.