Enlarge image
Corona vaccination entered in the passport (symbolic picture): The police are investigating alleged counterfeiters
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
With a major raid, investigators in Lower Saxony and Hesse took action against a gang of alleged vaccination passport forgers.
As the police and public prosecutor announced in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, the investigations are directed against five main accused between the ages of 21 and 29 years.
They are said to have offered the fakes on the basis of blank vaccination certificates, mainly via social media.
Accordingly, 24 residential and commercial properties in Lower Saxony and in neighboring Hesse were searched.
The raids were aimed at finding evidence.
There were no arrests.
According to their own statements, the officials confiscated numerous vaccination passes, stickers with batch numbers for vaccinations, stamps, printers and electronic devices.
They also came across tens of thousands of euros in cash as well as weapons, drugs and luxury watches.
Around 300 officers were involved in the searches, which ran in the regions around the cities of Hildesheim, Göttingen and Hanover, among others.
According to the investigators, the seized evidence should now be evaluated first.
The police and the public prosecutor's office would consistently pursue such crimes.
According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, these are suspects with ties to clan crime.
The suspects from the Hildesheim area had previously been investigated for almost two months, it said.
The central office of the public prosecutor's office responsible for this type of crime and the police had done a "good job," said State Justice Minister Barbara Havliza (CDU) in Hanover.
"Anyone who just fakes their vaccination protection is endangering the health of their fellow human beings - making a business out of it is really the very last thing."
Most recently, the case of Markus Anfang caused a stir.
The former coach of the second division soccer club Werder Bremen is said to have used a forged vaccination card.
Investigations are underway against him.
ptz / AFP