Detroit VA Hospital Nurse Charged With Stealing and Selling Blank COVID Vaccine Cards
October 10, 2021
A Detroit VA hospital nurse was arrested after she was discovered stealing genuine COVID-19 vaccination cards and selling them.
Bethann Kierczak was a registered nurse at a Detroit VA hospital. Because she administered COVID-19 vaccines to VA patients, she had access to blank vaccination cards. She would carefully take the cards when she could and then sell them to people in the Detroit area for $150 to $200 each. Once a card was purchased, she would fill it out with the customer’s information and actual vaccine lot numbers to make them appear legitimate.
Michigan VA authorities and local police were informed of what Kierczak was doing by an unnamed informant who had been actively chatting with Kierczak over Facebook messenger about buying cards since May. The source communicated with Kierczak regularly both before going to authorities and after.
In addition to selling the informant the cards for personal use, Kierczak enlisted them to help her sell the cards to new customers too. They were given a $300 commission for securing buyers for five cards at a total price of $1,000. Along with the blanks, Kierczak also provided a list of lot numbers from vaccines confirmed by authorities to have been at the VA hospital where she worked so the source could fill out the cards for their buyers.
Federal authorities were alerted in late August, and Kierczak was arrested on September 29, 2021. The VA released a statement condemning the actions of Kierczak and a rash of others across the country recently caught running similar schemes. The Department of Justice created a task force specifically for investigating COVID-19-related fraud and crime.
Demand for fabricated vaccination cards is high as many people refuse the COVID-19 vaccine and fight against mandates. Some employers and business owners require proof of vaccination. Those who decline the vaccine risk losing their jobs, being unable to attend events and becoming estranged from loved ones who want close contacts to be vaccinated.
In addition to at least three other cases of people stealing and selling cards, authorities have intercepted thousands of fake vaccination cards making their way across the country.
The Kierczak case is being investigated by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, VA Police Detroit and the Medicare Fraud Strike Force partners, a partnership among the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the FBI, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.