Former Montreal health worker sentenced to 2 years in prison for forging COVID-19 vaccine documents
A QR code for Quebec's vaccine passport. (Source: Ministry of Health and Social Services)
A former Montreal health-care worker has been sentenced to two years in prison for creating hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccination documents in 2021.
Adams Diwa, who is in his mid-20s, received the sentence Wednesday after pleading guilty last May to breach of trust and forgery charges.
According to Quebec's anti-corruption squad, the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), Diwa used his position in the regional health authority of eastern Montreal to produce 1,200 fake vaccination documents needed to obtain official government COVID-19 vaccine passports between September and November of 2021.
The paper and digital passports were required in Quebec to access certain public establishments during the pandemic.
UPAC said investigators also seized $128,000 from Diwa's home and bank accounts during searches related to the investigation.
A nursing student pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year.
Fatima-Zhoura Aini admitted she made fake QR codes for 17 people for a fee between March 29, 2021 and Dec. 23, 2021 while she was a nursing student and vaccine administrator at the CISSS de Montérégie-Centre, on Montreal's South Shore. She had the help of at least one accomplice to produce the falsified health records.
UPAC said she pleaded guilty to breach of trust, unauthorized computer use and conspiracy charges. Following her plea, she received a suspended sentence, which includes two years of probation and 120 hours of community service.
Anyone who wants to file a whistleblower tip to UPAC can visit their website for more information.
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