A Texas soldier is facing federal charges for selling falsified vaccine cards online.
Keishaun Edward Todd, 20, is being charged with illegal possession of U.S. government property after selling a fake vaccine card to undercover police agents.
On August 10, Dallas police were alerted to videos on Instagram of a man mailing bogus vaccine cards.
In one video, Todd can be heard saying, “I’m putting y’all [expletive] in the mail right now. You see it. Now it’s gone.”
A police agent then contacted Todd through his Instagram and arranged to buy at least one of the counterfeit cards.
Todd told the agent that they would need to provide him with a full name, address, driver’s license number, date of birth, and $150, which he would accept through Apple Pay or Zelle.
While authorities have not said where Todd got his supply of blank vaccine cards, he is not the only person who has been caught selling them online. Arrests for forgeries are on the rise as the cards pop up on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and local online marketplaces.
Dallas Police then used Todd’s social media accounts to find his license plate number and track him to a Forth Worth hotel where he was staying on a military assignment. Upon serving a search warrant, officers found 82 vaccine cards, 61 of which were still blank.
Todd was released from custody on a personal recognizance bond, and neither he nor his attorney has been reached for comment.
“We… will vigorously investigate any criminal offense that contributes to the distrust around vaccines and vaccination status,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said. “The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people from these offenses during this national emergency.”