Fake vaccine card scam: Marine reservist, LI nurse charged

NEW YORK - A U.S. Marine reservist and a Long Island nurse have been charged with selling fake COVID vaccination cards.

Authorities say 27-year-old Steven Rodriguez, who works at a clinic in Hempstead, would sell blank vaccination cards to 26-year-old Cpl. Jia Liu. The cards were then distributed to more than 300 buyers.

The scheme allegedly began in March 2021 and lasted until this month. 

"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 1 million lives in this country," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.

Liu’s lawyer, Benjamin Yaster, declined to comment. A message was left for Rodriguez' attorney.

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The defendants are charged with conspiring to commit forgery and to defraud the federal government. The charges carry the potential for up to 10 years in prison for Liu, of Queens, and Rodriguez, of suburban Long Beach.

The Marine Corps "is aware of the situation, and we are fully cooperating with federal authorities," Lieutenant Colonel Craig W. Thomas said in a statement.

He said the Marines had already taken steps toward administratively separating Liu before Thursday's arrest. Administrative separation is a military term that's akin to firing in the civilian world.

Liu was charged this past fall with climbing through a broken window into the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that delayed Congress' certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory. Security cameras recorded Liu entering the building, according to a criminal complaint.

In that case, he has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges including entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.

With the Associated Press.