44°
Jasmine Clifford, 31, of Lyndhurst sold 250 or so phony Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine cards for $200 each, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said Tuesday.
Doing the math, that’s $50,000.
Clifford – known as “5Star Jazzi” -- also connected customers to Nadayza Barkley, 27, who worked in a medical office on Long Island and added the names of 10 or so buyers to a state vaccine database for an extra $250, the DA said.
Federal agents also arrested 13 buyers of the bogus cards who Vance said worked in hospitals, nursing homes and other “frontline and essential-employee settings.”
The operation was first publicized by a TikTok user (@tizzyent) who recorded himself messaging on Instagram with Clifford (@5starjazziiii) and shared it with his more than 2 million followers.
Vance called Clifford a “self-described entrepreneur with several online businesses” who advertised the cards through her @AntiVaxMomma Instagram account and “accepted payment through CashApp or Zelle.”
Authorities are focusing on smashing both ends of such operations, Vance said.
“The stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions,” he explained.
The district attorney called on Facebook and other social media giants to “take action to prevent the fraud happening on their platforms.”
Vance said authorities will continue pursuing major investigations of bogus vax card operations.
“Making, selling, and purchasing forged vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious public safety consequences,” he said. “The stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions."
Clifford was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, offering a false instrument for filing and conspiracy.
Barkley, of Bellport, was charged with offering a false instrument for filing and conspiracy at a medical office in Patchogue, NY.
The rest were charged with criminal possession of a false instrument.
Vance thanked Joseph Giovanetti and Nakiesha Henry of the New York State Department of Health and Investigator Thomas Karasinski and Senior Investigator John Bode of the New York State Police.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fort Lee and receive free news updates.
