Two nurses from Long Island were charged after police seized more than $900,000 in cash and a ledger suggesting they made $1.5 million off of forged vaccination cards, The New York Times reports. The nurses, Julie DeVuono, who owns Wild Pediatric Healthcare, and her employee Marissa Urrano, sold the cards and entered false information in the New York immunization database, prosecutors said
They allegedly charged $220 for adult forged cards and $85 for children. The seizure follows a series of COVID-19 related fraud cases, including a nurse in Michigan who was charged with reselling authentic vaccine cards. Public health officials stressed that crimes such as these jeopardize efforts to fight COVID-19. “I hope this sends a message to others who are considering gaming the system that they will get caught and that we will enforce the law to the fullest extent,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.