Pharmacist Convicted of Stealing, Selling COVID Vaccination Cards Online

Blank COVID-19 vaccination cards are stacked at a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Dec. 21, 2021. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

A former pharmacist in Chicago was found guilty in federal court on June 23 for stealing and selling authentic COVID-19 vaccination cards on eBay.

Zhao Tangang, 36, stole COVID-19 vaccination cards from the pharmacy where he worked and sold them online. The cards were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

During March and April 2021, Zhao posted online listings for over 650 COVID-19 vaccination cards that he advertised as “authentic” and “straight from the CDC.” Zhao sold 630 cards to about 200 buyers who paid him more than $5,600, according to prosecutors.

The jury convicted Zhao of 12 counts of theft of government property. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

“Knowingly selling COVID vaccination cards to unvaccinated individuals puts millions of Americans at risk of serious injury or death,” Special Agent Emmerson Buie Jr. of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office previously said, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release on Aug. 17, 2021. “To put such a small price on the safety of our nation is not only an insult to those who are doing their part in the fight to stop COVID-19, but a federal crime with serious consequences.”

Zhao was a licensed pharmacist in Illinois and was employed by a national pharmacy chain that administered coronavirus shots and distributed vaccination cards to recipients, according to his indictment.

Online COVID-19 vaccination cards were circulated during the pandemic as more businesses, schools, and cities required proof of vaccination.

“If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in [sic] blank vaccination record cards with false information,” a release from the FBI states. “By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19.”

The unauthorized use of an official government agency’s seal is a crime and may be punishable under Title 18 United States Code, Section 1017, and other applicable laws, according to the FBI. Penalties may include hefty fines and prison time.

In 2021, 47 members of the National Association of Attorneys General sent the CEOs of Twitter, Shopify, and eBay a letter requesting that they take immediate action on bad actors spreading COVID-19 misinformation and using the sites to sell fake vaccine cards.

COVID-Related Fraud

On April 20, in a press release announcing criminal charges against 18 people accused of allegedly participating “in various fraud schemes involving health care services that exploited the COVID-19 pandemic,” the DOJ said it seized over $16 million in cash and other fraud proceeds.

“This unprecedented enforcement action against defendants across the country makes clear that the Department is using every available resource to combat and prevent COVID-19 related fraud and safeguard the integrity of taxpayer-funded programs,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

One of those indicted as part of the nationwide action is a California lab owner who has been charged with submitting over $358 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and a private insurance company for laboratory testing.

Also in California, a medical doctor was charged for allegedly defrauding the HRSA’s Uninsured Program of around $230 million.

“The doctor was the second highest biller in the country to the Uninsured Program, and he allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for treatment of patients who were insured, billed for services that were not rendered, and billed for services that were not medically necessary,” the DOJ stated.

The doctor allegedly used over $100 million of the fraud proceeds to trade stock options.

Suppliers of COVID-19 over-the-counter tests—which Medicare started to cover in April 2022—were also charged for allegedly supplying dozens of COVID-19 tests to patients that didn’t want or need them. In some cases, the patients were deceased.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.