Arrested: Two Nurses made $1.5 million off fake vaccination cards

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Ethical failure by an NP and LPN---- if found guilty, expect NY BON to revoke licenses with monies forefitted.

ABC News 1/29/2021

Charges: Nurses made $1.5 million off fake vaccination cards

Two nurses on New York's Long Island have been accused of forging fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme
 

Quote

 

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. -- Two nurses on Long Island are accused of forging COVID-19 vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme, prosecutors and police said.

Julie DeVuono, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and her employee, Marissa Urraro, are both charged with felony forgery, and DeVuono also is charged with offering a false instrument for filing. Both were arraigned Friday....

...Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said DeVuono and Urraro handed out fake vaccination cards, charging $220 for adults and $85 for children. DeVuono, a nurse practitioner, and Urraro, a licensed practical nurse, entered the false information into the state's immunization database, he said.

Prosecutors said the nurses forged a fake card showing a vaccine was given to an undercover detective but never administered the vaccine to the detective....

 

 

[amoLucia]

I am amazed that they could make so much money in such a short time.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

I'm thinking I'm in the wrong line of work ??

[Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN]

As James Bond said ,:"Shocking ,positively shocking."

[sleepwalker, MSN, NP]

Sounds like it's time for the George Costanza defense...."Was that wrong?"

[Beerman, BSN]

On 1/29/2022 at 6:42 PM, amoLucia said:

I am amazed that they could make so much money in such a short time.

I agree.  At $220 each, that's almost 7000 people in three months.  How did that many people in the market for a vaccine card find them?

[summertx]

 

On 1/29/2022 at 4:03 PM, NRSKarenRN said:

Ethical failure by an NP and LPN---- if found guilty, expect NY BON to revoke licenses with monies forefitted.

ABC News 1/29/2021

Charges: Nurses made $1.5 million off fake vaccination cards

Two nurses on New York's Long Island have been accused of forging fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme

A couple of words I would question are 'accused' and that 'an undercover detective' was involved. Sorry, I'll wait until their side of the story comes out. I don't trust these 'undercover' detectives as their job is to deceive and get someone to do wrongdoing. I believe there is more to the story.  

16 hours ago, summertx said:

 

A couple of words I would question are 'accused' and that 'an undercover detective' was involved. Sorry, I'll wait until their side of the story comes out. I don't trust these 'undercover' detectives as their job is to deceive and get someone to do wrongdoing. I believe there is more to the story.  

Hmm 

The nurse gave the detective an immunization card indicating vaccination that was not done. What deception do you imagine could be involved? 

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

The vaccine card thing makes me insane. I’m a vaccinating nurse. Those cards are pieces of card stock, printed on a regular printer. “Forging” a card isn’t something where you need FBI-level technology. Just print one off the computer. It’s free.  There isn’t even a signature line for the person who gave you the shot.  At my clinic, the receptionist fills out the card and I don’t even touch it. 
 

My in-laws got vaccinated but my MIL lost her card. So her husband printed a blank one off and filled out the date and place she got her shots. Which is fine and not even illegal or shady, because she really did get her shots!  My long winded point is— why are people PAYING hundreds of dollars for these?  This isn’t a fake ID to get you into a bar!  The nurse is an idiot and she will certainly lose her career, but the people buying cards from her are idiots as well. 

2 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

The vaccine card thing makes me insane. I’m a vaccinating nurse. Those cards are pieces of card stock, printed on a regular printer. “Forging” a card isn’t something where you need FBI-level technology. Just print one off the computer. It’s free.  There isn’t even a signature line for the person who gave you the shot.  At my clinic, the receptionist fills out the card and I don’t even touch it. 
 

My in-laws got vaccinated but my MIL lost her card. So her husband printed a blank one off and filled out the date and place she got her shots. Which is fine and not even illegal or shady, because she really did get her shots!  My long winded point is— why are people PAYING hundreds of dollars for these?  This isn’t a fake ID to get you into a bar!  The nurse is an idiot and she will certainly lose her career, but the people buying cards from her are idiots as well. 

The customers would rather break laws than follow public health recommendations to get vaccinated before engaging in public activities, especially indoors or in close or intimate settings. 

[PoodleBreath]

10 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Hmm 

The nurse gave the detective an immunization card indicating vaccination that was not done. What deception do you imagine could be involved? 

Agree. It wasn't just the fake card, it was the $900,000.00 cash in the house, a ledger detailing where the money came from, and a data trail showing they had fraudulently entered the information into the State system. This is the plot of a madcap caper starring Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Lawrence.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

13 hours ago, PoodleBreath said:

 a data trail showing they had fraudulently entered the information into the State system. 

This is the way bigger offense IMO and should be the headline, rather than the card thing!  She can say she didn’t fill out the cards (how would you prove she did?) but if she actually signed on to the state system and e-signed the record… wow. How did she think she wasn’t going to get caught?