Nurses arrested over vaccine card scam

Acting on a tipoff, units from the department of financial crimes launched an operation in Istanbul, detaining six people, including three nurses, over a vaccine cards fraud, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.

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Following months of technical surveillance, officials found that some individuals were issuing fake vaccine cards.

In the operation, three nurses working at a private hospital and three other individuals, allegedly involved in the fraud, were detained.

The nurses were later arrested on charges of aggravated fraud and forgery of documents while the three other suspects were released on bail.

There had been rumors suggesting that unvaccinated people were obtaining vaccine cards, the broadcaster said.

Police units decided to act after three months of surveillance and launched the operations.

At the request of the prosecutors, the smartphones of the suspected nurses were confiscated and examined. WhatsApp records on the phones provided evidence that they were involved in the scheme.

A lawyer said that people who had the suspects issue fake vaccine cards for themselves may face criminal charges.

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Meanwhile, the provincial directorate of health in Istanbul launched a separate investigation to figure what happened to the vaccines that were not actually administered.

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