Petaling Jaya: The crackdown on private clinics that offer fake digital vaccination certificates has widened to the Klang Valley. This comes amid earlier raids in Terengganu and Sabah.
In the latest raid on a private clinic in Gombak, police discovered that the fake certificates were being offered for RM500 each.
“We raided the clinic last Friday,” said Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed.
“We caught wind of the clinic’s illicit activities and arrested seven suspects aged between 20 and 35.
“There are three women among the seven arrested. The suspects include the clinic owner, staff and a runner,” he told reporters yesterday.
Police seized a laptop believed to be used to input patient data into the MySejahtera system.
“Checks revealed that 5,601 patients had been registered as vaccine recipients at the clinic.
“We are investigating how many among them had been registered without receiving their jabs,” Comm Arjunaidi said.
“The clinic targeted those who did not want to get vaccinated. It would seek out clients for fake certificates via WhatsApp.
“Some were referred to the clinic by close acquaintances,” he added.
Initial investigations revealed that the clinic had received vaccines from the Health Ministry but only empty vials were returned to the ministry.
“The vaccine was thrown away and the empty bottles returned to the ministry to justify the issuance of vaccination certificates,” he said according to Bernama.
Comm Arjunaidi added that the clients were initially charged up to RM3,000 each for the service but the fee was subsequently reduced to RM500.
The case is being investigated under Section 269 of the Penal Code (for committing a negligent act likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life) and Section 22(d) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act.
Five days earlier, a man was arrested in Sabah for falsifying digital certificates.
Believed to be a member of a syndicate, the 31-year-old was arrested by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers.
On Jan 8, Terengganu police arrested a doctor from a private clinic in Marang for allegedly issuing fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates.
Terengganu police chief Datuk Rohaimi Md Isa said the 51-year-old man was picked up following a public complaint.