Not long ago, the pandemic also divided Munich residents into two groups: the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Anyone who had the vaccine could go to the tavern or to concerts – and feel reasonably safe among those who had been vaccinated. All the more reprehensible, according to the Munich district court, if this security was undermined: the lay judge sentenced three men to severe suspended sentences who had falsified vaccination cards and sold them for at least 300 euros.
Admittedly, the quality of the yellow booklet wasn’t the best. The self-made stamp contained an incorrect address for the vaccination center in Augsburg – and various spelling mistakes. In addition, it was known at the beginning of the vaccination operation that Munich residents were assigned to a local vaccination center. It was not intended that they should have gone to Augsburg for the injection.
Nevertheless, the three men had spotted a lucrative line of business. At the beginning of 2021, they made stamps with the address of the Augsburg vaccination center and printed the small vaccine batch stickers themselves. They then sold such fake ID cards profitably for at least 250 to 300 euros to eight different customers, three of whom they made for themselves. But they never had vaccinations happened. Prosecutor Juliane Grotz said the gang was caught up on “operative findings from another process”. Preliminary proceedings have also been and are being initiated against the eight recipients of the vaccination certificates.
The jury took into account in its judgment that the trio had made a comprehensive confession right from the start, the press office of the district court said. This allowed the hearing of evidence to be considerably shortened during the hearing. The court also added that the three men had not acted professionally and had not acted with high criminal energy. On the contrary. The fakes were quite “amateurish”.
Despite amateurish approach: court pronounces suspended sentences
Nevertheless, the head of the gang was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on probation for commercial and gang-related forgery and to a fine of 180 daily rates of 15 euros each, i.e. 2,700 euros. His two accomplices each received a year and ten months probation.
The jury judged the fact that the accused had contributed to “the fact that the respective buyers of the counterfeit vaccination certificates were able to undermine the provisions applicable at the time of the crime and in the subsequent period in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic was “significantly aggravating the sentence” and thus the trust of the population, that people who had a registered Covid 19 vaccination in their vaccination card were actually vaccinated”. At that time, parts of social life were linked to the corona vaccination, and many people would have relied on the vaccination status when making their decision to take part in an event, for example. The accused were aware of this and “ignored it in a reprehensible manner”. The judgment is final.