Two nurses in the Long Island area have been charged with selling counterfeit proof-of-vaccination cards, giving customers the ability to qualify for vaccine passports without actually accepting a novel gene therapy Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) injection.
According to a Jan. 29 report by Associated Press, Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville owner Julie DeVuono, along with staff member Marissa Urraro, were charged with felony forgery and arraigned on Jan. 28.
DeVuono was charged with an additional count of offering a false instrument for filing.
Suffolk County DA Raymond Tierney stated the duo sold counterfeit proof-of-vaccination cards at a rate of $220 for adults and $85 for children, using their position as a nurse practitioner and licensed practical nurse to fraudulently update the state’s central vaccination status registry.
When police raided DeVuono’s home, they uncovered a cache of more than $900,000 USD and a transaction ledger showing $1.5 million in profits gained from the racket.
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The article states the machination was uncovered when the pair provided a vaccine passport to an undercover police officer, but without administering injection.
Wild Child’s Facebook page was updated on Jan. 28 with a post that stated, “Hello everyone. Thank you for your outpouring of support at this difficult time. Please keep my family and Marissa in your prayers as well.”
The post was met with 815 comments and 14 shares, the vast majority of which were anything but supportive.
“I have prayers. That swift and honest Justice takes you down,” said one user. “I’m praying you lose your license for your shameful and selfish behavior,” stated another.
According to NY Daily News, DeVuono’s husband, Darrin, is also an officer with the NYPD and is now facing an Internal Affairs investigation to ascertain his involvement in the scheme.
The outlet states that Darrin faced disciplinary action in 2020 in the form of five subtracted vacation days after flying a $4 million NYPD Cesna spy plane on a flight path in the shape of male genitalia in 2017.
The outlet claimed that “sources” said, “Some of the cash was found in NYPD-issued helmet bags.”
The article contains many photographs of DeVuono’s paper ledger and since-seized $900,000 treasure trove.
A less-than-isolated incident
In December, a police chief in North Carolina was suspended after he referred vaccine hesitant members of his staff to a “self-vaccination” clinic where they could pay a fee to administer their own vaccine behind closed doors and receive proof-of-vaccination afterwards.
In a related incident, just days earlier on Jan. 27, a married couple was arrested during a NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium for entering with the aid of counterfeited vaccination status, said the New York Post.
According to WIVB, that although the duo, aged 34 and 37, were charged with a class D felony that carries a maximum penalty of 7 years in prison, Erie County DA John Flynn stated during a press conference that prison would “absolutely not” be on the table if his office secures a conviction.
“I would readily admit, this is not the Kennedy assassination…I readily admit this is not the crime of the century,” he stated.
“At the end of the day…’m not going to jam them up. But I can’t just let them go.”
The article stated that the pair brought attention to themselves by posting on social media about their endeavors to show fraudulent papers.
“Without their social media posts, Flynn said the couple ‘probably’ would have gotten away with using fake cards,” stated the article.
