Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Cards Made By Turnersville Woman, Feds Say

TURNERSVILLE, NJ — A Turnersville woman who is also a U.S. Postal Services employee in South Jersey sold about 400 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to people who had not been vaccinated against the disease, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

In addition, a group of men from New Jersey attempted to defraud Medicare by paying illegal kickbacks and bribes of more than a quarter of a million dollars for laboratory tests for COVID-19 pathogen tests, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The Turnersville woman and the New Jersey men are among 21 people who were charged in a COVID-19 fraud scheme that was announced by the Department of Justice on Wednesday, authorities said.

These 21 people come from multiple states and multiple professions, including the owners of a clinical laboratory, a naturopathic doctor, the owners of a now-defunct home health agency, an advanced registered nurse practitioner and the owner of a health and wellness center,
according to authorities.

The cases these 21 people are allegedly involved in reportedly led to more than $149 million in COVID-19-related false billings to federal programs and theft from federally-funded pandemic assistance programs, authorities said.

“Throughout the pandemic, we have seen trusted medical professionals orchestrate and carry out egregious crimes against their patients all for financial gain,” said Luis Quesada, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.

“The actions of these criminals are unacceptable, and the FBI, working in coordination with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate and pursue those who exploit the integrity of the health care industry for profit,” Quesada continued.

Allegations Against Hammel

Hammell, who is charged with alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States and fraud, made at least some of the fake vaccination cards while she was on the job, authorities said.

In at least one instance, Hammel received $100 for making and providing a fake vaccination card, and is said to have bragged about her fake vaccination card-making abilities, according to 6abc.com.

The U.S. Postal Service said Hammell worked as a customer service supervisor in Marlton while she made the false COVID-19 vaccination cards, 6abc.com reported. The USPS also said Hammell is still on payroll but does not have contact with any mail items, 6abc.com also reported.

Allegations Against Men From New Jersey

Abid Syed, Tariq Din, Tamer Mohamed, Abdul Rauf, Tauqir Khan, and Nisim Davydo were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, according to authorities.

The charges stem for their roles in an alleged scheme to defraud Medicare by paying illegal kickbacks and bribes of more than $250,000 for laboratory tests for COVID-19 pathogen tests, authorities said.

Syed and Din owned and controlled Metpath, a clinical laboratory in Parsippany, which conducted and billed Medicare for COVID-19 diagnostic testing. Khan, Mohamed, and Davydov were marketers who supplied thousands of COVID-19 diagnostic tests to Metpath and who received kickbacks and bribes from Syed and Din for doing so, according to authorities.

Methpath tried to conceal its kickback payments to the marketers through shell companies set up and controlled by Rauf, authorities said.

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