A Colorado man is accused of selling hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccine cards across at least 12 states, federal officials said.
Robert Van Camp made thousands of dollars in the scheme from April 2021 to April 2022, according to a criminal complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Van Camp, of Parker, was arrested on Tuesday, April 19. He was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and trafficking in counterfeit goods.
An attorney for Van Camp was not listed in court documents.
In the scheme, he obtained a copy of a blank COVID-19 vaccination record card from a person he lived with who had “top secret security clearance,” documents state.
Then he printed copies of the vaccine card, which he sold to buyers in Washington cities such as Burien, Woodinville and Seattle — and at least a dozen states.
Before handing the cards to buyers, Van Camp filled them out with a person’s name, date of birth and fake vaccination dates, vaccination lot numbers, sites and manufacturers, court documents show.
“I call them a work of art. I’ve been a printer for 30 years so this was easy for me,” Van Camp told an undercover federal agent who was purchasing the vaccine cards.
He sold five fake vaccine cards to the agent for $120 per card on Sept. 20, 2021, near Castle Rock, Colorado, documents show.
Van Camp also sold federal agents fake cards for $190 per card, court documents show.
He told an undercover agent that selling the false vaccine cards helped people go to their jobs, attend school and travel to Canada and Mexico, documents show.
“I’ve saved a thousand lives,” he told the agent.
Van Camp’s next court hearing is May 10.
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© 2022 McClatchy Washington Bureau Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
