Two men receive conditional prison sentences for their roles in a large-scale forgery of Covid vaccination certificates.

Two men aged 27 and 31 have been conditionally sentenced to two years by the Rhine Valley District Court for forgery of documents.

Although they had no authorisation, they issued 210 Covid vaccination certificates via a federal internet application. The defendants each made CHF 10,000 from the sale of the certificates.

The 31-year-old man from Iraq had obtained the access data for the federal internet platform from a third party, according to the indictment. In addition to the login, the Iraqi also obtained the personal data required to create the Covid certificates.

The certificates were sent using transfer codes via the internet platform. Alternatively, the 31-year-old sent them to the buyers electronically, the indictment continues.

According to the indictment, the second accused, a 27-year-old Austrian, was responsible for entering the personal data and thus for creating the certificates. The two men shared the proceeds from the sale of the certificates equally with the third party who had provided the login data. The two men demanded 150 francs per certificate.

Several Thousand Forged Certificates

The 31-year-old was remanded in custody for 31 days. In addition to the conditional prison sentence, he was sentenced to a fine of CHF 2,000. The 27-year-old was remanded in custody for 16 days.

He must pay a compensation claim of 10,000 francs. The trial was held in summary proceedings. The verdict is not yet final.

The trial was part of several criminal proceedings initiated by the St. Gallen judiciary. The starting point was a tip-off to the Department of Health about illegally issued vaccination certificates. Several people were subsequently arrested and houses were searched, as the St. Gallen public prosecutor’s office announced at the beginning of 2022.

In total, the cantonal prosecution authorities were aware of more than 9,000 illegally manufactured certificates, according to a statement issued at the time.

©Keystone/SDA