Fake COVID vaccine cards sold at bar lead to owner’s arrest, California officials say
A California bar owner was arrested after officials said he sold fake COVID-19 vaccine cards from his business, news outlets reported.
Todd Anderson, the 59-year-old owner of The Old Corner Saloon in Clements, was arrested Tuesday after undercover agents bought bogus coronavirus vaccination cards from the bar, CBS 13 reported.
When someone gets vaccinated against the coronavirus, they receive a vaccination card at their first appointment. It lists which of the three authorized vaccines the person received and the date and location of each shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People need to keep their vaccination cards as proof that they received a shot. Experts have said that the cards could eventually be needed for some activities like traveling, entering schools or using mass transit, McClatchy News reported.
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Because they might be important in the coming months, it’s become a growing trend to buy or sell fake cards. The FBI has said that’s illegal.
A California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control spokesperson told KCRA that at least eight cards were sold to customers from The Old Corner Saloon for about $20 per card.
“We were able to purchase four, and then today we located 30 blank cards, laminating machines, laminate, cutters and things to manufacture the cards,” Luke Blehm, a Alcoholic Beverage Control spokesperson, told KOVR.
The bar owner could face charges for falsifying medical records, using a fake seal and identify theft, KOVR reported. No one from the bar provided comments to news outlets.
“On the cards there are several agency seals on them,” Blehm told KCRA. “That is illegal to falsify a seal of an agency or an entity, which makes that identify theft. And also there’s a section … with forging a seal.”
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control told CBS 13 that officials are investigating if an employee was involved with the cards. The agency also plans to “file disciplinary action” against the bar, which could get its liquor license revoked.
“It is disheartening to have members in our community show flagrant disregard for public health in the midst of a pandemic,” San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar told CBS 13. “Distributing, falsifying or purchasing fake COVID-19 vaccine cards is against the law and endangers yourself and those around you.”
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