Investigators from Kripo Erding and the Landshut public prosecutor's office have tracked down a lively trade in forged vaccination passports.
A couple was arrested.
Erding - Investigators from the Erding police force and the Landshut public prosecutor's office have tracked down a lively trade in forged vaccination passports.
They are said to have put at least 17 such certificates into circulation - each for a three-digit amount.
A couple from Erding was arrested, the man is still in custody.
Originally, the police were on their heels for drug trafficking.
Erding: The couple sells fake vaccination cards - Kripo has been investigating for months
The Erdinger Kripo has been investigating the case for months.
According to Michael Graf, spokesman for the Upper Bavaria North Police Headquarters, the target is a 59-year-old Italian and his 62-year-old wife who live in Erding.
At the end of October, Graf continued, she was arrested on suspicion of illicit cocaine trafficking.
"In the course of the search of their private and business premises, drugs, cocaine and marijuana, a blank gun and a switchblade, among other things, were found," said Graf.
At the request of the Landshut public prosecutor's office, the couple was brought before the responsible investigating judge at the Landshut District Court on October 23, who issued arrest warrants against the two suspects.
The one against the wife has meanwhile been suspended against conditions.
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In drug raid: Erdinger couple arrested - forged vaccination cards found
According to Graf, two people from Erding and one each from Hallbergmoos (Freising district), Ismaning (Munich district) and Landshut could be identified as buyers of the drug.
But the investigation continued and led the criminal investigators to a whole new area of crime: "There was a suspicion that the 59-year-old was trading in forged vaccination passports," reports the spokesman for the Ingolstadt Presidium.
He is said to have bought at least 17 such vaccination records from a 44-year-old from Augsburg at a price of 250 euros each and resold them at a profit for 300 euros.
Corona rules in Bavaria: Fake vaccination passports in circulation
Three fakes, with which the buyers want to circumvent the corona rules without vaccination, were found in the course of the apartment search.
Another fake turned up in a 37-year-old Italian who had come into focus in the course of the drug investigation against the Erdinger couple.
The police managed to identify five other vaccination passport buyers.
They are between 19 and 74 years old and come from Erding, Bockhorn, Finsing, Moosinning and Wörth.
The police searched their homes on November 11th.
With success: Not only were four false vaccination passports secured, but also a digital COVID certificate from the EU, which can be used to load the vaccination confirmation onto a mobile phone.
“A 40-year-old sneaked this by presenting her forged passport at a pharmacy,” reports Graf.
Free corona vaccination - 300 euros for a fake vaccination certificate
The buyers and users of the counterfeits pose a major health risk.
You can move around freely and take part in all events - of course without actually being vaccinated against SarsCoV2.
Police spokesman Graf is also surprised to spend 300 euros on a false passport where the syringe is available free of charge.
The investigations of the Erdinger Kripo and the public prosecutor's office are ongoing.
She suspects there may be more drugs and vaccination records around.
Corona: forgery of vaccination passports not yet covered by criminal law
The problem is that forgery of vaccination certificates is not yet covered by criminal law.
A draft law is to be introduced to the Bundestag on Thursday, which provides for sentences of up to five years in prison.
However, the couple would not be affected by this tightening because they committed the acts beforehand.
These counterfeits or the trade with them is the first case in the Erding district, albeit a large one.
Last week, the head of the health department, Peter Stadick, had stated that they only knew about a forged entry.
This case was also reported.
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