NHS workers jailed for selling fake Covid-19 vaccination records

Three NHS administrative workers have been jailed for conspiracy to commit fraud after selling fake Covid-19 vaccination records during the 2021 lockdown, a scheme prosecutors said earned about £412,000. Hakeem Walters, 29, Rokibul Islam, 31, and Muhammed Ahmed, 27, were employed as administrators at the Covid vaccination clinic at Westfield Stratford City in east London.

They falsified 1,648 vaccine records relating to 847 individuals, charging around £250 for each fake record. Islam had access to the National Immunisation Vaccination System (NIVS) and sold his confidential login details to Ahmed for £1,000. The entries were submitted between August 17 and December 13, 2021. After submission, the NHS Covid-19 App showed those people as fully vaccinated, enabling travel, attendance at restricted venues, and job opportunities with restrictions. Prosecutor Kathryn Drummond said the defendants acted during a time of national crisis and abused their positions of trust, profiting at the expense of the public.

Sentencing was delivered by Judge Sally-Ann Hales, who described the offences as serious and noted that the harm to public health was self-evident. Ahmed and Walters were jailed for four years and four months, while Islam received one year and seven months. All three admitted conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to cause a computer to perform a function with intent. The court’s ruling underscored the need to deter abuse of the vaccination program and safeguard public health moving forward.