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Suspected counterfeit vaccination certificates from the police (symbol image): Officials are also suspected
Photo: Stefan Puchner / dpa
The police and public prosecutor's office apparently succeeded in striking a blow against suspected vaccination card counterfeiters during a search operation in four federal states.
During the concerted action in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, a total of 22 search warrants were carried out and numerous pieces of evidence were seized, said the police and public prosecutor in Hamburg.
The investigation is said to be aimed at a 29-year-old man and two 39- and 48-year-old women.
They are suspected of having produced fake health certificates commercially in various ways.
Subsequently, the forged documents are said to have been made available to people in several federal states for a fee.
According to the information, the officials found 42 blank vaccination cards, around 2100 euros in cash, several technical devices and a telescopic baton at hand in the 29-year-old's apartment.
The apparently forged vaccination certificates of the suspect and his partner were also secured.
The officials confiscated a further 24 suspected fake vaccination cards, 24 digital vaccination certificates, more than 20 mobile phones, more than a dozen computers and data carriers from the two suspected women.
The investigation and the evaluation of the evidence are ongoing.
Stade: police officers under suspicion
In another case in Stade, Lower Saxony, police officers are suspected of having falsified vaccination cards.
The police have searched four apartments because of the suspicion, the emergency services say.
Because the suspects are Stade police officers, the Rotenburg police are conducting the investigation.
The five suspects, aged 31, 32, 35, 40 and 44, are accused of using the fake vaccination certificates themselves and distributing them to other people.
They had been released from service and would have to answer both criminally and in disciplinary proceedings.
During the searches, the police seized utensils that could be used to produce the fake vaccination certificates, as well as storage media, cell phones and laptops.
According to the police, the evaluation of the confiscated evidence and the further investigations are ongoing.
ptz/dpa/AFP