Chicago Pharmacist Faces 120 Years In Prison for Allegedly Selling CDC Vaccination Cards on eBay

Now that we’re seeing more and more companies asking for patron’s vaccine standing after they stroll by means of the door, solid vaccine playing cards are shortly changing into a hot commodity amongst of us which are both unable or unwilling to get the actual deal. And now, the Justice Department is taking discover. On Tuesday, the company announced the arrest of 1 Chicago pharmacist on expenses surrounding his alleged facet hustle promoting off COVID-19 vaccination playing cards.

Per the DOJ’s announcement, the pharmacist in query —34-year-previous Tangtang Zhao, of Chicago—was caught after he had bought 125 genuine CDC vaccination playing cards at roughly $10 a pop utilizing his eBay account. Details in Zhao’s indictment present that these playing cards had been doled out between 11 totally different consumers, with one spending greater than $175 in a single buy. The bulk of those buys occurred between March and April of this 12 months, across the similar time that the FBI put out a public memo letting folks know that producing these playing cards was against the law.

The indictment expenses Zhao with 12 counts of theft of presidency property from the pharmacy the place he was working, which isn’t immediately named within the paperwork however appears to be Walgreens, in response to public records. Per the announcement, he faces a sentence of 10 years in jail for every of these counts if convicted, which means that he might wind up serving a whopping 120-year jail sentence in consequence.

“Stealing and selling COVID-19 vaccination cards is inexcusable and will not be tolerated,” stated Special Agent in Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in a press release

“Fraudsters who engage in such unlawful conduct undermine efforts to address the pandemic and profit at the public’s expense,” he went on. “The health and safety of the public is our top priority, and we encourage people to obtain vaccination cards from their administering medical providers.”

This case marks the second time that the DOJ has intervened in the black marketplace for bogus vaccine playing cards. Last month, the division arrested a California-based homeopathic physician over claims that she was promoting phony vaccination playing cards and “immunization pellets” to her clientele.

Between all of the free perks being doled out throughout the nation to encourage folks to get the jab, and the shortly mounting court docket instances dealing with those that have tried circumventing the system, hopefully, extra folks will probably be satisfied to get their playing cards at no cost, the way in which authorities meant. Zhao will make his first look in court docket on Tuesday.