Fake Corona vaccination certificates: Hundreds of fraud cases

Since the end of the free corona tests, falsified vaccination certificates have been circulating more and more.

Fake Corona certificates are particularly noticeable in pharmacies.

Munich - With the end of free corona tests *, some federal states are registering increased fraud with falsified vaccination certificates and even regular trading.

In Bavaria, a number of cases "in the middle three-digit range" is known, as a spokeswoman for the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office told our newspaper yesterday.

The authority does not want to give more precise figures because not every case leads to a procedure.

The demand depends on the need: the more strictly vaccination records are checked in public life, the more falsified and falsified vaccination passports and certificates are expected.

So far, however, there have been no indications of organized national fraud or trade in vaccination passports or certificates.

Corona fraud: fake vaccination certificates

There are now hundreds of cases of fraud with false certificates nationwide.

North Rhine-Westphalia reported case numbers in the "middle three-digit range", Hesse "a little more than 100" and Baden-Württemberg case numbers in the "upper two-digit range".

Some federal states were able to provide specific figures: In Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, 22 cases of use, sale or offer of falsified vaccination certificates have been registered since May.

In Hamburg there were 84 cases up to the beginning of October, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania nine this year.

Vaccination passport fraud: Increasing number of counterfeits in pharmacies

Several federal states unanimously reported that counterfeits are increasingly being noticed in pharmacies when customers want to receive a certificate for the digital proof for the supposed proof of vaccination on paper.

“There is a high level of criminal energy behind falsifying vaccination cards,” says a spokesman for the Bavarian Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.

Because anyone who circumvents the 3G rules at events in this way is not only endangering himself, but also the health of others.

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The number of falsified corona vaccination certificates is increasing.

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© Stefan Puchner / dpa

There are investigations in almost all countries, but no concrete convictions are known so far.

Berlin's Lord Mayor Michael Müller (SPD *) yesterday announced the demand of the Prime Minister's Conference (MPK): The heads of government want to create a "complete legal situation" in order to be able to adequately sanction forgeries of vaccination certificates.

Fraud with fake corona vaccination certificates: unclear case law

In fact, there is a loophole, possibly as big as a barn door: under certain circumstances, fraudulent vaccination documents may be a criminal offense against the authorities, but not against the disco bouncer. A spokesman for the Bavarian Ministry of Justice explains: "With regard to vaccination certificates, the case law has not yet clarified the conditions under which a person is liable to prosecution who issues and distributes inaccurate vaccination certificates without justification."

It is about § 277 in the Criminal Code: Here only the deception of "authorities or insurance companies" is mentioned.

This does not, at least formally, cover fraud at admission controls in restaurants, clubs and bars.

According to the ministry spokesman, only violations of the Infection Protection Act or the prohibition of forging documents are punishable in individual cases.

The prime ministers want any form of trickery to be punished.

This ties in with the decision of the Justice Ministers' Conference in June.

The Federal Ministry of Justice * is responsible for defining criminal offenses.

A spokeswoman explains: “The falsified vaccination records are a new phenomenon.

We are currently examining whether § 277 still does justice to the new situation, or whether there is a need for adjustment. "

List of rubric lists: © Stefan Puchner / dpa