Napa naturopathic doctor accused of selling fake COVID pills and fake vaccination cards

NAPA (CBS SF) – A naturopathic doctor licensed in Napa was arrested Wednesday in an alleged scheme to sell homeoprophylactic vaccination lozenges and provide fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, federal authorities said.

Juli A. Mazi, 41, has been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of misrepresentation related to health care matters, which has been characterized as the first federal prosecution related to homeoprophylactic vaccinations and false COVID vaccination records.

Ethan Gladner lives in the same apartment complex where Mazi operated his practice. Officers made the arrest as they raided his office.

“I didn’t know. It’s just a little crazy to think that this can happen in the small town we live in, ”Gladner told KPIX 5.

Mazi was investigated after a complaint to the US Department of Health and Human Services about a person whose family members purchased products from him in April. According to court documents, the complainant said Mazi told her family members that her home prophylaxis lozenges contained the COVID-19 virus and would create an antibody response in their immune system.

Along with the lozenges, Mazi reportedly sent forged COVID-19 vaccination cards from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the family, with the Moderna vaccine listed on the cards. Mazi reportedly told family members to mark the cards to falsely state that they had received the Moderna vaccine on the date they ingested the lozenges.

“This defendant allegedly defrauded and endangered the public by attacking fears and spreading misinformation about vaccinations authorized by the FDA, while peddling bogus treatments that put people’s lives at risk. Worse yet, the defendant allegedly created COVID-19 vaccination cards and asked its clients to falsely mark that they had received a vaccine, allowing them to bypass efforts to contain the spread of the disease ”, said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. in a press release. “The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people from fraudsters during this national emergency.”

Additionally, court documents allege that Mazi offered homeoprophylactic vaccines for childhood illnesses that she said would meet California schools’ vaccination requirements, and forged vaccination cards submitted by parents to California schools.

“Instead of disseminating valid cures and information, Juli Mazi took advantage of the illegal sale of unapproved medicines, raising false fears and generating false evidence of vaccination,” said the acting district attorney for the Northern District of California, Stephanie Hinds, in a press release.

According to the complaint, Mazi encouraged the purchase of its products by exploiting misinformation and fear of FDA-cleared COVID vaccines, falsely claiming that the vaccines contain “toxic ingredients.” Mazi also reportedly told clients that they could give the lozenges to children for COVID-19 immunity, and that “the dose is actually the same for babies.”

“Spreading inaccurate or false medical information about COVID-19 for personal gain, as the complaint alleges, is dangerous and only arouses public skepticism,” said Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair of the FBI Field Office in San Francisco. “As the government continues to strive to provide current and accurate information to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the FBI will continue to prosecute those who attempt to fraudulently profit from the dissemination of false information and the provision of false documents. “

According to the Justice Department, Mazi earned $ 221,817 between January 2020 and May of this year. Twenty-five of the transactions are specified for COVID treatments totaling $ 7,653, while 34 other transactions were for unspecified homeoprophylactic treatments.

If convicted, Mazi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the wire fraud charge and five years for the misrepresentation charge. Each charge is also punishable by a fine of up to $ 250,000 and up to three years of supervised release, although any post-conviction sentence would take into account US sentencing guidelines and federal law governing imposition. of a penalty.

KPIX 5 contacted Mazi but did not receive a response on Wednesday evening.

In May, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland created a COVID-19 Anti-Fraud Task Force to help prosecute criminal actors seeking to profit from fraud and misinformation during the pandemic.

Anyone with information about fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or through the NCDF web complaint.

Andrea Nakano contributed to this report.