TWO WOMEN INDICTED FOR FRAUD INVOLVING
PHONY COVID-19 VACCINATION CARDS
One Defendant, A Teacher, Allegedly Submitted Fraudulent Card to DOE;
Other Defendant Sold Cards via twitter
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that two women have been indicted for fraud involving Covid-19 vaccination cards. One defendant allegedly sold vaccination cards to undercover BXDA investigators and uploaded the false vaccination information to the NYC Department of Health Citywide Immunization Registry. The second defendant, a teacher, allegedly submitted a fraudulent card to the NYC Department of Education.
District Attorney Clark said, “Both defendants put public safety at risk while our community continues the battle against COVID-19. The defendants were allegedly willing to endanger the health and safety of people in the Bronx, including students. It is essential we do our part to protect people from a virus that is still leading to hospitalizations and even death.”
District Attorney Clark said defendant Noni Porter, 29, of Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, was arraigned October 11, 2022 on two counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, two counts of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, two-counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of Forged Instrument, and two counts of second-degree Falsifying Business Records before Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas. She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court on November 11, 2022.
According to the investigation Porter, a DOE employee who worked as a teacher at the Bronx School for Continuous Learners, allegedly submitted a photo of her Covid-19 vaccination card to the New York City Department of Education Covid Portal and emailed a copy of the card to her principal, asking for the day off due to vaccine side effects. After the principal was alerted to possible fraudulent activity, an investigation began. Porter allegedly admitted to investigators the card was fraudulent and stated she paid $60 for it.
District Attorney Clark said defendant Destiny Colon, 24, of Bryant Avenue, was arraigned on August 15, 2022 on two counts of second-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, two counts of third degree Computer Tampering, two counts of first-degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing, two counts of Computer Trespass, two counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, two counts of first-degree Falsifying Business Records, two counts of second-degree Falsifying Business Records, two counts of Unauthorized Use of a Computer, and two counts of second-degree Computer Tampering, before Bronx Supreme court Justice Albert Lorenzo. She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court October 27, 2022.
According to the investigation, Colon worked for a contractor involved in the city’s vaccination efforts. NYS State Police found the defendant offering to sell vaccination cards through her Twitter account. The defendant then allegedly sold two vaccination cards to a Detective Investigator from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office posing as a person requesting them on two separate incidents. Additionally, Colon allegedly uploaded the fraudulent vaccine information to the NYC Department of Health Citywide Immunization Registry indicating the “customer” received the vaccination.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Justin Thompson of the Economic Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of John Oxenreiter, Supervisor of the Economic Crimes Bureau, Michelle Milanes, Deputy Chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, Herman Wun, Chief of the Economic Crimes Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, Deputy Chief of Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, Chief of Investigations Division.
District Attorney Clark thanked BXDA Detective Investigators Stephen Polizzi, Anai Tamarez, Michael Frigeri, Benjamin Ahmadi.
District Attorney Clark thanked Senior Investigator John Bode and investigators Israel Vasquez and Thomas Karsinski of the New York State Police, Manhattan BCI.
District Attorney Clark thanked the NYC Special Commission for Investigations, Investigator Nekiesha Henry of the New York State Department of Health Vaccination Complaint Investigations Team, and Joseph A. Giovannetti, Director of Investigations, New York State Department of Health as well as the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, for their assistance in the investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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