A 21-year-old man is facing federal charges for selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards after getting caught with a stash in his car.
Zachary Honing was arrested in East Garden City, New York after he admitted to selling some of the cards to students and distributing the rest to his family and friends.
Officers were patrolling the area looking for drug offenders when they spotted Honing sitting in his car with the engine running. When the police searched his car, they reportedly found controlled substances as well as a stack of about 62 stolen vaccination cards taken from his employer, CVS Pharmacy.
Some of the cards reportedly contained pre-filled information with some of the dates pre-marked for June, others were completely blank, and some had information backdated to earlier vaccination dates.
He now faces eight charges, including possession of a forged instrument, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, and petit larceny.
“His intent was to share them with family members and friends that they can go into venues and possibly even use them at school when they go back in September,” Commissioner Patrick Ryder of the Nassau County Police Department told WABC. “You can’t have scams like this occurring. The idea of getting us all back to normal is that when you walk into a place and they’re requiring that card, you want to make sure that card is factual.”
Local station WABC is reporting that CVS Pharmacy fired Honing following his arrest.
“We’re cooperating with the Nassau County Police Department’s investigation of an employee at our CVS Pharmacy store on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown,” a company representative said in a statement. “Following his arrest, we took immediate steps to terminate his employment as his alleged activity conflicts with our values, our policies, and our commitment to safe, secure vaccination protocols.”
Honing is not the first charged in connection with false COVID-19 documents.
At least 10 people have been arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands for allegedly submitting a fake COVID-19 test to the U.S.V.I. online travel portal.
