Patients put their lives in the hands of medical professionals because they are supposed to be experts in healing, trusting that the doctors have their best interests in mind. (Who would want to go to a doctor that knew nothing about your condition or how to make you feel better?) That’s why it’s important to choose doctotrs who are actually experts.
It’s safe to say that a Napa, California-based naturopathic doctor, Juli Mazi, was not someone whom anyone should ever solicit advice from in terms of health and well-being. This fraudster pleaded guilty to selling homeoprophylaxis immunization pills, an “alternative” method of protection from the COVID-19 virus, and forged vaccination cards that made it appear that the card bearers had received the FDA-authorized Moderna vaccine.
The 41-year-old licensed naturopathic doctor convinced her patients that the immunization pills contained a small amount of COVID that would create lifelong immunity by creating antibodies. Mazi sent CDC COVID vaccination cards to families, giving them vaccine lot numbers that would allow them to falsify their vaccination records, so it appeared they had received the two-dose Moderna vaccine, even though they had not. (One of those families tipped off Federal authorities.)
The homeopathic doctor forged CDC COVID-19 vaccination record cards for 200 individuals. (Mazi utilized misinformation to scare her patients for personal gain.) Her customers included small children, who needed the vaccine to attend school. (She knew these deceptive immunization cards would be submitted to schools and would falsely certify that the children had been vaccinated.)
Mazi violated the public’s trust in health care professionals during the Coronavirus pandemic when integrity was very important. When sentenced, the fraudster faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for wire fraud and five years for making false statements. Each charge carries up to $250,000 in fines and three years of supervised release. It looks like this fraudster will have to swallow her punishment like a bitter pill (it will not provide immunity to prison) and turn in her doctors’ scrubs for a prison jump suit. (Let’s hope she’ll be cured of committing fraud in the future.)
Today’s Fraud of the Day comes from a Department of Justice press release, “Naturopathic Doctor Pleads Guilty To Fake COVID-19 Immunization And Vaccination Card Scheme,” published dated April 6, 2022.
SAN FRANCISCO – A California-licensed naturopathic doctor pleaded guilty today for scheming to sell homeoprophylaxis immunization pellets and for falsifying COVID-19 vaccination cards by making it appear that customers had received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized Moderna vaccine. The Hon. Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge accepted the plea.
“Juli Mazi has admitted that she engaged in a scheme to sell fake health care records to her customers,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds. “Mazi made profits by selling false immunization cards she knew would be used to mislead schools into believing students had been immunized from childhood illnesses as required by law. Mazi also sold fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Cards suggesting she administered the Moderna vaccine to her customers when, in fact, she had not. Mazi’s fake health care records scheme endangered the health and well-being of students and the general public at a time when confidence in our public health system is of critical importance.”
