On Wednesday, the Nanterre Criminal Court (Hauts-de-Seine) sentenced four people to terms of up to four years in prison. They were found guilty of being involved in the sale of around 11,000 fake health passes in the Paris region, in the Rhône and Ain, between May and November 2021. In total, the revenue from this business is estimated at nearly 400,000 euros.
Members of the network were broadcasting “anti-vaccine” messages from Snapchat accounts and offering fake passes between 250 and 330 euros each. They collected the buyers’ names and Social Security numbers and hacked into the vaccine database.
Among those convicted were “counterfeit sellers”, who made the fake passes which they resold, “dealers”, who bought these fake passes from third parties before reselling them to their customers, and “fundraisers”, who were responsible for donating the proceeds.
Five people already convicted in this case
Two of these people, tried since Monday, were sentenced to four years in prison, one of which was suspended and a fine of 25,000 euros. Already incarcerated, these two men will remain in detention, the court decided. They were found guilty of several computer crimes, organized gang fraud and organized gang money laundering.
A third man was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, twelve of which were suspended, while a woman was sentenced to fifteen months in prison, suspended. The fifth person tried, a woman, was released.
Five other people had already been sentenced in this case to sentences ranging from ten to twenty-four months’ imprisonment, including eight months at a hearing to appear on prior admission of guilt (CRPC) in November.