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A Marine reservist already facing charges in the 2021 Capitol riot was busted for selling phony COVID-19 vaccination cards — and even distributing some to fellow reservists, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Queens resident Jia Liu, 26, conspired with Long Island nurse Steven Rodriguez, 27, to steal and forge COVID-19 vaccination cards, sell them for profit – then destroy real vaccine doses to cover up the ruse, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
The scheme resulted in more than 300 false vax cards circulating the community, investigators said in a news release.
“As alleged, by deliberately distributing fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards to the unvaccinated, the defendants put military and other communities at risk of contracting a virus that has already claimed nearly one million lives in this country,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“This Office remains committed to rooting out and prosecuting those individuals who threaten our public health and safety for profit.”
Rodriguez, who worked at a clinic in Hempstead, sold blank vaccination cards to Liu who then forged and sold them at a marked-up rate. Rodriguez would allegedly meet the buyers in person at the clinic, destroy a vaccine vial and then forge a vaccination card on the spot, prosecutors allege.
The pair also entered at least 70 false records into the New York State database so that buyers would come up as vaccinated in the state’s online Excelsior Pass app.
Liu distributed the bogus cards to fellow Marine Corps reservists as the US Department of Defense imposed a vaccination requirement for all military service members, prosecutors said.
“LIU facilitated the introduction of unvaccinated persons into a military setting that had been constructed to exclude unvaccinated persons for the safety of troops and the protection of the United States,” said the indictment, which was unsealed Thursday.
Liu took cash through apps like Venmo, with sellers and buyers using code words to talk about the cards – calling them “Cardi Bs,” “Christmas cards” and other names. A transcript of a May 17 Instagram DM discussion between Liu and an unnamed co-conspirator shows the two discussing access to the database.
“It’s full proof?” the other person asks Liu, according to the transcript.
“for travel/work/school yes,” Liu boasts.
“if you want to apply for federal job or take federal contracts that makes you sign an acknowledgment statement that checks your status in the State system, then I need to make an appointment for you with my buddy who will destroy a vial, scan your ID, and give you a band-aid.”
Rodriguez and Liu were due to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon. They each face up to 10 years in prison on charges of conspiring to defraud the US Department of Health and Human Services and conspiring to commit forgery. Liu was also slapped with a charge of conspiring to defraud the US Department of Defense for distributing cards to reservists, the attorney’s office said.
Liu’s lawyer declined comment to the Associated Press.
The Queens resident took part in the siege of the US Capitol on Jan. 6 last year that disrupted congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Liu, who was spotted on surveillance footage inside the building, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges in that case.
With Post wires
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