FBI investigates Vermont troopers over fabricating vaccination cards
The FBI is investigating three Vermont state troopers over their roles in creating fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, state police said.
Shawn Sommers, Raymond Witkowski and David Pfindel are the three officers who are already under investigation for varying roles in creation of the fraudulent cards.
Sommers and Witkowski resigned on Aug. 10, one day after other troopers reported the card manufacturing to their supervisors. Pfindel also resigned on Sept. 3, following an investigation by the Department of Public Safety.
"The accusations in this case involve an extraordinary level of misconduct — a criminal violation of the law — and I could not be more upset and disappointed," Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police, said in a statement.
"If these allegations are proved to be true, it is reprehensible that state troopers would manipulate vaccination cards in the midst of a pandemic, when being vaccinated is one of the most important steps anyone can take to keep their community safe from Covid-19," Birmingham added.
Over the past weeks, the US administration has been grappling with the issue of counterfeit coronavirus vaccination cards as a remarkable number of unvaccinated US citizens are looking for a way to evade the Covid-19 restrictions.
In mid-August, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it has seized more than 3000 fake vaccination cards allegedly shipped from China.
“It was the 15th such shipment of the night, though all to different cities. Inside were 51 low quality, counterfeit Covid-19 vaccination cards. The cards have blanks for the recipient’s name and birthdate, the vaccine maker, lot number, and date and place the shot was given, as well as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) logo in the upper right corner,” CBP announced in a statement on August 16.
The rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus has pushed cases and hospitalizations in the United States to a six-month high.
This has made different states, such as Hawaii, to re-impose the Covid-19 restrictions.
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