Two Sentenced Over Sale of 2,000 Fake COVID Vaccine Passports in NHS Fraud

Two men who cynically abused the NHS to profit from the sale of more than 2,000 fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination passports during the height of the global pandemic have been sentenced at Luton Crown Court.

Waqas Hanif, 28, of Luton, Bedfordshire, who worked as a vaccination programme care co-ordinator at the Kingsway Health Centre in Luton, was sentenced to three years in prison.

His co-conspirator, Touqir Nasir Nasir, 31, was handed a ten-month custodial sentence suspended for one year and made subject to a six-month curfew.

Both men appeared in the dock after admitting multiple offences under the Fraud Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act, with Hanif additionally pleading guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.  

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The court heard that during 2021 the pair operated a lucrative online racket advertising bogus vaccination records on social media platforms, including Telegram.

Charging clients up to £150 each, the fraud enabled unvaccinated individuals to falsely demonstrate they had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, allowing them to bypass legal health restrictions, travel abroad and meet in large groups at a time when national measures were in place to protect the public.

In total, investigators linked the clandestine scheme to more than 2,000 false medical entries created within official healthcare databases, undermining the national pandemic response for financial gain.  

The criminal operation relied heavily on Hanif's position inside the healthcare system. As a care co-ordinator at Kingsway Health Centre, Hanif possessed site administrator privileges for Pinnacle, the official NHS software application used to record and generate official vaccination entries.

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A joint investigation launched by the National Crime Agency (NCA) National Cyber Crime Unit and the NHS England Counter Fraud Team identified a total of 2,663 highly suspicious entries recorded through the Luton health centre.

Digital forensic analysis established that 1,875 of those entries were generated from five specific IP addresses directly traced back to Hanif's home address in Luton.  

National Crime Agency officers executed a search warrant at Hanif's residential address in January 2022, arresting him at the scene.

During the search, investigators recovered his official NHS identification card, £7,000 in cash, confidential NHS documentation and an application form for the Luton Safe Deposit Centre.

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Enquiries at the vault facility revealed that Hanif had secured the largest storage box available, with security CCTV footage capturing him accessing the safe deposit box on multiple occasions.

When officers subsequently opened the safety deposit box, they discovered £136,405 in cash, with subsequent forensic testing matching Hanif's fingerprints to banknotes stored inside.

Furthermore, an examination of his mobile phone uncovered approximately 250 images containing the personal details, full names and addresses of around 340 individuals seeking fraudulent records.

During police interview, Hanif admitted creating false vaccination entries but claimed he had acted under duress after being coerced by local criminals who paid for the certificates.  

The financial infrastructure supporting the fraud was managed by Nasir, who funnelled tens of thousands of pounds generated by the operation.

Having changed his name by deed poll, Nasir opened a commercial bank account under the alias Adam Parker.

Following a voluntary police interview in March 2023, financial investigators established that over £56,000 had passed through the fraudulent account, primarily comprised of repeated individual deposits ranging between £100 and £400.

Cross-referencing NHS databases demonstrated that individuals making these cash transfers matched names for whom false vaccination passports had been created.

Bank records further revealed that Nasir transferred £1,000 directly to Hanif as direct payment for generating fake records on the Pinnacle system.  

Speaking following the conclusion of the court proceedings, Deputy Director Paul Foster, Head of the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, condemned the actions of both defendants, stating that they had cynically abused the healthcare system for personal financial gain while the nation endured the pain and turmoil of the pandemic.

Mr Foster emphasised that exploiting the NHS to allow unvaccinated individuals to bypass public health protections was entirely illegal, noting that the joint operation between the NCA and NHS England Counter Fraud Team successfully disrupted organised criminals seeking to profit from undermining public safety.

Both defendants were sentenced accordingly, with Hanif beginning his three-year custodial term immediately while Nasir remains subject to strict curfew requirements.