The US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio entered a consent decree permanently enjoining a Columbus-area woman from producing and selling fake Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 vaccination cards. In a civil complaint filed in US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, the government alleged that Tiffany Keller, 39, of Junction City, Ohio, produced and sold fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards in violation of Section 1140 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1320b-10. The complaint alleged that Keller advertised her services on a blog that discussed how to make fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards and offered to print fake cards for $40 per card and ship them to paying customers via priority mail. Keller sold more than 77 fake cards. It is a violation of federal law for individuals to reproduce, reprint, or distribute any item consisting of a form, application, or other publication of HHS for a fee without express authorization from HHS. HHS-OIG is authorized to impose a civil money penalty of up to $11,506 for each violation.
Under the terms of the consent decree and final judgement, Keller admitted that the allegations in the complaint are true and agreed to be permanently enjoined from, among other things, (1) engaging in prohibited acts related to the misuse of HHS departmental words, symbols, or emblems; (2) reproducing, reprinting, distributing, selling or offering for sale fake CDC COVID-19 vaccination cards; and (3) using any means, including but not limited to blogs and social media platforms to advertise or solicit the sale of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards. Should Keller violate the terms of the consent decree, the order also subjects her to the imposition of civil money penalties in the amount of $442,981 for her violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1320b-10(a)(2)(B), as specified in the complaint.
