The authorities have detained a man in Sabah who is allegedly a member of a syndicate that provides anti-vaxxers with COVID-19 vaccine certificates on MySejahtera. The individual reportedly charged RM2,000 per person for the service.
Citing a source from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, The Vibes reported that the 31-year-old man has been running the operation since last October and used the money to pay off one of the volunteers working at the vaccination centre in the city. The volunteer would then update the vaccination details of the buyer, which would generate a digital vaccine certificate in their MySejahtera account without them having to actually get the shot.
Sabah MACC director S. Karunanithy confirmed the arrest and clarified that the suspect is being investigated under the MACC Act 2009. He added that the MACC will be requesting for remand at the magistrates’ court in Kota Kinabalu.
Fake vaccination certificates have been in the limelight as of late when Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin revealed that several umrah pilgrims who tested positive for the Omicron variant were unvaccinated despite the jab being a mandatory requirement. A doctor in Terengganu was recently arrested for selling vaccine certificates to anti-vaxxers for RM600.
In response to the case in Terengganu, Science, Technology, and Innovation Minister Dr. Adham Baba has stressed that the authenticity of COVID-19 vaccination certificates in MySejahtera cannot be faked because of blockchain technology. He added that certificate forgery only happens when irresponsible parties lack integrity.
(Source: The Vibes.)
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