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North Bay Woman Charged With Fake COVID Vaccinations, Vaccination Cards Face Federal Charges
A North Bay woman is in custody and faces federal charges on charges she allegedly tampered with COVID vaccines and vaccine cards. The state-licensed naturopath works from her home in Napa, which was raided by the FBI on Wednesday. The neighbors are incredulous that this has happened here.
NAPA, California – A doctor in Napa has been arrested for allegedly offering fake COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination cards.
Juli Mazi, 41, is a state-licensed naturopath whose website offers holistic remedies for various ailments.
But on Wednesday morning, the FBI served a warrant on his California Avenue apartment, smashing his front door in the process.
Mazi runs his medical practice from his home.
“It’s not every day that you see the FBI in your neighborhood,” neighbor Suman Rao said. “I saw a few people in FBI jackets coming and going in this house.”
The case against Mazi began with advice from someone who claimed she had provided her family with lozenges to swallow, and claimed they contained tiny amounts of COVID-19, enough to trigger a response into antibodies.
Patients were reportedly told that the lozenges would give them lifelong immunity.
Additionally, investigators say Mazi provided customers with fake CDC vaccination cards and asked them to write “Moderna” on them as if they had received the FDA-cleared vaccine.
AFTER: California woman first to face federal charges over fake COVID vaccinations and vaccination cards
Mazi’s signature appears on the cards and she allegedly provided actual lot numbers to avoid suspicion.
The Justice Department did not say what was in the oral product and how many people had ingested it.
“Pellets are interesting,” reacted neighbor Ethan Gladner, somewhat puzzled. “It had to happen, with everything we’ve been through so honestly, I’m not surprised, I just didn’t think it would happen in our city.”
Mazi is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of misrepresentation related to health care matters.
The criminal complaint says Mazi told patients the granules were effective for children, even babies.
Prosecutors said Mazi told patients government-approved vaccines contained “toxic ingredients.”
“This defendant would have defrauded and endangered the public,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in a statement. “Tackling fears, spreading misinformation about licensed vaccines and selling bogus treatments is life-threatening. “
The accusations have stunned many who know Mazi.
“On NextDoor, people say it was my doctor, I was thinking about her, I’m shocked,” said Lee W. Miller, a real estate agent who has known Mazi for about two years.
They met when Mazi moved her primary care practice from Santa Cruz to Napa and joined Miller’s reference group of companies.
“Sympathetic, friendly, always ready to network with the other members of the group,” Miller recalled.
He finds it hard to see Mazi as motivated by greed.
“To deliberately defraud people for money?” Miller thought. “I wonder if her passion for natural and naturopathic medicine could have taken her in a direction. I am very surprised by this claim and really hope it is not true and that it has an explanation.”
Mazi has yet to appear in court.
Federal officials say the public can report suspected vaccine fraud by calling a hotline at 1-866-720-5721.
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