COVID-19 vaccination record.Photo: Getty Images
According to apress releasefrom the District of South Carolina’s U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday, Acting United States Attorney M. Rhett DeHart announced that 53-year-old Tammy McDonald, the Director of Nursing Services at a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center, has been charged with two counts of producing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards and one count of lying to federal investigators about her role in making the records.
The former nursing director pleaded not guilty to the three charges and was granted $10,000 bond. She faces up to 15 years in prison for each count of producing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards and five years for lying to law enforcement.
“Although the indictment speaks for itself, creating fraudulent or fake vaccine cards for those who have not been vaccinated poses a direct threat to the health of the people of South Carolina,” DeHart said in a statement.
The first federal criminal fraud prosecution related to fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards came to light in July after aCalifornia naturopathic doctorwas accused of falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards and selling pellets she claimed without evidence would provide “lifetime immunity” to the disease.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, 41-year-old Juli A. Mazi was arrested on one count of wire fraud and one count of false statements related to health care matters.
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source: people.com
