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It is alleged that Jasmine Clifford of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, sold approximately 250 forged COVID-19 cards over social media, and worked with Suffolk County resident Nadayza Barkey, of Bellport, to enter at least 10 people into the database during the peak of the pandemic, the Manhattan District Attorney announced.
The DA, Cyrus Vance, Jr., noted that 13 individuals who purchased the cards — all of whom are believed to work in frontline and essential-employee settings, including hospitals and nursing homes – were also charged.
According to the indictment, beginning in May, Clifford, a self-described entrepreneur with multiple online businesses advertised forged Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination cards through her Instagram account.
In each instance, Clifford charged $200 for the falsified cards, and for an extra $250, Barkley, who works at a medical clinic in Patchogue, would enter their names into the database to falsely represent that they’ve gotten the shot.
Vance said that among those who purchased the fake cards, 13 work in public-facing or other essential-employee settings – including hospitals, medical and nursing schools, and nursing homes.
Each of them has been charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, and offering a false instrument for filing for paying to be entered into the database.
Barkley, age 27, was charged with conspiracy and offering a false instrument for filing.
Clifford, age 31, was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, conspiracy, and offering a false instrument for filing for paying to be entered into the database.
“We will continue to safeguard public health in New York with proactive investigations like these, but the stakes are too high to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions,” Vance said. “We need companies like Facebook to take action to prevent the fraud happening on their platforms.
“Making, selling, and purchasing forged vaccination cards are serious crimes with serious public safety consequences.”
Vance noted that the investigation is ongoing. Anyone who is aware of fraudsters selling fake vaccination cards, has been instructed to call the DA's Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau by calling (212) 335-8900.”
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