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A California doctor has been accused of selling fake Covid vaccination lozenges and vaccine cards, the US Department of Justice said.
Doctor Juli Mazi of Napa was arrested on Wednesday and charged with wire fraud and health care-related misrepresentation, according to a criminal complaint.
Mazi, a homeopathic doctor, reportedly told patients that his homeoprophylactic vaccination lozenges contained “a very minute amount” of the Covid-19 virus and that by taking them they would develop “full immunity for life,” the ministry said. Justice in a press release.
Mazi encouraged his patients to buy the lozenges by mistakenly telling them that vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration contained “toxic ingredients,” prosecutors said. Customers who purchased the lozenges were given a Covid vaccination card and were asked to fill it out so that it looks like they received both doses of the Moderna vaccine, the state of release and the complaint.
“This defendant would have defrauded and endangered the public by attacking fears and spreading misinformation about vaccinations authorized by the FDA, while peddling fake treatments that put people’s lives at risk,” said the Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in a statement.
The agency said it was the first federal prosecution for criminal fraud related to bogus vaccinations and vaccination cards.
At least one person bought the pellets for $ 243. Financial records showed that between January 2020 and May 2021, Mazi received more than $ 221,000 in transactions, the criminal complaint says. Twenty-five of those transactions indicated they were for coronavirus treatments.
Authorities began their investigation in April after someone contacted the Inspector General’s office at the Department of Health and Human Services and said family members had purchased Mazi’s vaccination lozenges.
“The complainant said family members told him Mazi said the lozenges contained the Covid-19 virus and would create an antibody response in the immune system,” prosecutors said in the press release. “The complainant reported that his family had not received injections of any of the three Covid-19 vaccines approved by the FDA. listed. “
Another person told authorities that after her roommate took the pellets, the person became ill and complained of “gastrointestinal discomfort”.
If convicted, Mazi faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and five for misrepresentation.
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