my hero .....
Utah plastic surgeon charged for tossing 2,000 COVID vaccines, giving kids SALINE shots instead of the real thing if their anti-vaxx parents requested it, and selling fake vaccine cards for $50 a pop
- Dr. Michael J. Kirk Moore is charged along with three women in Utah
- Prosecutors say they made $96,850 by selling fake vaccine cards
- If parents wanted one for the kids, they gave the saline to make them think they'd been vaccinated, federal court documents allege
A Utah plastic surgeon and some of his staff members have been charged with running an elaborate COVID vaccine scam, where they're accused of ordering thousands of doses of the shots then throwing them out and giving patients fake vaccine cards.
In some cases, prosecutors say they even gave saline shots to children at the request of their parents, who wanted them to think they'd been vaccinated when they hadn't.
Dr. Michael J. Kirk Moore, 58, has been charged along with nurse Kari Dee Burgoyne, 52, and neighbor Kristin Jackson Andersen, 59.. Sandra Flores, 31, another of his staff members, was also charged.
Dr. Michael J. Kirk Moore, 58, has been charged along with nurse Kari Dee Burgoyne, 52, and two other women.
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Federal prosecutors in Utah say they used Dr. Moore's practice - The Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah in Sandy, south of Salt Lake City, to run the scam.
It's unclear from the indictment why they ran the alleged scheme; prosecutors do not indicate if any of the defendants are anti-vaxxers themselves, or if they were simply trying to make money.
The indictment however claims both Andersen and Moore are members of an unknown organization 'seeking to "liberate" the medical profession from government and industry conflicts of interest.'
In total, they sold nearly 2,000 fake vaccine cards for a profit of $96,850.
According to the indictment, the group pretended to administer 391 kids shots, 524 adult Pfizer shots, 64 Moderna shots and 958 J&J shots between October 2021 and September 2022.
In reality, they poured them down the drain using syringes, prosecutors say.
Now, they are all charged with destroying government property. They were indicted earlier this month but the indictment was unsealed this week in a court in Utah.
According to the indictment, they took close to 2,000 vaccines that the government paid $28,028 for and poured them down the drains of their offices, then sold fake vaccine cards for $50 each for a total of $96,850
According to the indictment, the group would fill out the cards once patients had sent $50 via Venmo or PayPal using an orange emoji to signal that they were part of the scam
It lays out how in 2021, they 'began to notify' people who were seeking a vaccine card but not a vaccine that they would provide it for them.
It's unclear if they advertised the service, or if the patients came to them independently.
Once inquiries were made, Dr. Moore handed the patient to Burgoyne, who in turn handed them over to Andersen, it's alleged.
Patients were asked to text Andersen with the full name of the person who'd referred them.
'We do referral only,' she said in one text to an undercover FBI agent.
Once the referral name had been provided, she would instruct patients to send a $50 payment either via Venmo or PayPal, telling them to use an orange emoji in the notes section to signal what it was for.
The Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah in Sandy, south of Salt Lake City
Once that had been done, prosecutors say she filled out the necessary paperwork and sent it back to the doctor's office.
The patient would then allegedly pick their vaccine card up from the office.
Two undercover agent went through the process, including one who asked if his children could be given cards too.
That agent says Flores wrote on a post-it note 'with 18 & younger, we do a saline shot'.
They have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property; and conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property and aiding and abetting.
All will go before a judge on January 24th and are facing a maximum of five years in prison.
The indictment says both the doctor and one of the women were part of a movement to 'liberate' the medical profession from 'government conflicts of interest'
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