Police bust vaccine certificate forgery scheme in Chernihiv
The National Police on Oct. 27 reported that they foiled a Chernihiv Oblast ring responsible for illegally creating fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination certificates.
The scheme was allegedly organized by the 52-year-old owner of a travel agency, who worked together with a doctor and a nurse to issue certificates to people who have not gotten vaccinated. The documents contained seals and signatures to appear authentic.
The alleged perpetrators also entered the fraudulent information into the government’s electronic registries for their customers to show up as vaccinated in the state Diia app.
On average, 20 fake certificates were produced per day, each one costing $250. Police said that the organizer and medical workers made than Hr 500,000 ($19,000) from their illegal activities in the past two months.
The suspects will be charged with unauthorized use of data and face up to six years in prison.
The creation and use of forged certificates has become something of a second epidemic across Ukraine. Since the beginning of the year, more than 800 criminal investigations have been opened into this practice in the country.
“In 2021, on the basis of collected evidence of falsification of test results and vaccination documents, 104 people have already been charged; 88 indictments have been sent to court,” Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova stated on Facebook.
Separately, the Ministry of Digital Transformation on Oct. 27 reported that cyberpolice busted a 21-year-old Zaporizhia resident who created a fake app that mimics Diia but allows users to edit their age, vaccination status and other data.
He faces charges of unauthorized tampering with computer networks and may also be sentenced to up to six years in prison.
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