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An indictment was unsealed on Thursday, Feb. 17 charging Queens resident Jia Liu, age 26, a member of the US Marine Corps Reserve, and Nassau County resident Steven Rodriguez, age 27, of Long Beach, a nurse at a clinic in Hempstead, for their roles in the scheme.
US Attorney Breon Peace said that between March 2021 and February 2022, the two allegedly conspired to steal and forge COVID-19 vaccination cards to falsely record persons as immunized with vaccines that protect against COVID-19, when in reality, they had not been immunized.
In addition to selling stolen and false cards to unvaccinated persons, Liu and Rodriguez also conspired to enter false COVID-19 vaccination records into New York state databases, allowing unvaccinated individuals to receive the Excelsior Pass, which displays a user’s vaccination status in a digital app, according to prosecutors.
It is alleged that Liu purchased blank COVID-19 vaccination cards from Rodriguez, and then forged and distributed them to buyers and other co-conspirators for a profit.
Liu also allegedly directed buyers to meet Rodriguez in person at the healthcare clinic to purchase fraudulent cards.
Peace said that Rodriguez would meet the buyer, but instead of administering the vaccine, he destroyed a vial of the vaccine intended to be used to vaccinate a patient. He then provided a forged COVID-19 vaccination card to the buyer that he completed to make it falsely appear that the buyer had received a dose of vaccine.
The indictment alleges that he also made entries in the Immunization Databases falsely indicating that the buyer had been vaccinated.
Prosecutors said that when the US Department of Defense issued a mandate requiring active and reserve military service members get vaccinated against COVID-19, Liu created and distributed false vaccination cards to members of the US Marine Corps to help them evade vaccination requirements.
It is further alleged that the pair promoted their scheme through messages on encrypted messaging applications and on social media, referring to the vaccination cards as “gift cards,” “Cardi Bs,” “Christmas cards,” and “Pokemon cards.
In total, at least 300 stolen or false COVID-19 vaccination cards were created and more than 70 false entries were made into the Immunization Databases.
Officials noted that all COVID-19 vaccination providers are required to give individuals who receive a COVID-19 vaccine a COVID-19 vaccination card. These COVID-19 cards list the name and date of birth of the patient, the name of the manufacturer of the COVID-19 vaccine that the patient received, the date the patient receives it, the lot number of the vaccine dose, and the location where each dose is administered.
“As alleged, by deliberately distributing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards to the unvaccinated, the (two) put military and other communities at risk of contracting a virus that has already claimed nearly one million lives in this country,” Peace said. “This Office remains committed to rooting out and prosecuting those individuals who threaten our public health and safety for profit.”
Both Liu and Rodriguez were charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States Department of Health and Human Services and one count of conspiring to commit forgery in connection with their scheme to distribute and sell false COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Liu, a Marine Corps reservist, was also charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States Department of Defense for providing these cards to the United States Marine Corps reservists.
“The COVID-19 vaccination card fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by Liu and Rodriguez resulted in more than 300 stolen or false vaccination cards circulating throughout the community, and in the destruction of multiple doses of a vaccine intended to protect people from the most severe effects of the virus,” FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Driscoll stated.
“Schemers who defraud the government in any way—and profit from pocketing the funds—will continue to be held accountable.”
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