WIREDGOV

Four people from the north east have been charged as part of a joint National Crime Agency and NHS England investigation into the creation and online sale of fraudulent Covid 19 vaccination records during the pandemic.

Christopher Thompson, 36, from Horden; Shahid Hussain, 33, from Middlesbrough; Ian Taylor, 42, and Abbey-Leigh Coates, 25, both from Darlington, were arrested by NCA officers in early 2022 and 2023.

The investigation relates to the creation of 1,168 fraudulent records between June 2021 and January 2022, some of which were generated at a health centre in Darlington.

These were allegedly sold to members of the public, which made in excess of £200,000.

During the pandemic, unvaccinated individuals paid for legitimate vaccine passport records which were obtained from online marketplaces illegally.

It is suspected that organised criminals recruited healthcare professionals to produce the fraudulent records. This allowed unvaccinated people to travel when others were subject to restrictions.

The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised charges for all four individuals, relating to alleged offences under the Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act. They are due to appear at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Monday (2 March).

Deputy Director Paul Foster, Head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said:

“Receiving a vaccine is a personal choice, but abuse of our healthcare system to enable unvaccinated individuals to bypass restrictions that are in place to protect the British public is illegal.

“Working in close partnership with the NHS England Counter Fraud Team, this investigation helped to secure the safety of our communities by preventing organised criminality from undermining the national pandemic response and benefitting financially from the damaging service provided.”