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Kelly McDermott, of Albany, and Kathleen Breault, of Cambridge in Washington County, were among five individuals to be charged for their alleged roles in separate schemes that fraudulently distributed more than 2,600 fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards, according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District.
The investigation also uncovered more than $1.7 million in fraud involving the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program across the United States.
According to prosecutors, McDermott, age 61, owns Sage-Femme Midwifery PLLC, a midwife clinic in Albany where Breault, age 65, worked.
The two are accused of conspiring to enroll the company as an authorized COVID-19 vaccine administration site, and to provide vaccination record cards to people who were not vaccinated.
Among those who received the phony cards, prosecutors said, were children who were ineligible to be vaccinated at the time, as well as non-US citizens who were outside of the country when they were purportedly vaccinated.
McDermott and Breault also destroyed vials of COVID-19 vaccines that were meant to be used to vaccinate patients, according to investigators.
“The defendants in these cases used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to engage in fraud, including faking vaccine cards and stealing vital funds designed to keep struggling businesses afloat,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“My office remains committed to combating the opportunistic fraud that occurred in connection with the pandemic.”
The charges filed in federal court in Brooklyn are part of a nationwide COVID-19 enforcement effort led by the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section.
According to prosecutors, 18 people have been charged for their alleged roles in health care fraud schemes totaling approximately $490 million in fraudulent claims.
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