Cuomo threatens $1 million penalty as state braces for vaccine schemes

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Letitia James have warned New Yorkers about COVID vaccine schemes and threatened fines up to $1 million. The Queens DA’s Office said prosecutors are investigating at least 12 claims of COVID-related fraud. Photo courtesy of St. John’s Episcopal Hospital

By Rachel Vick and David Brand

Potential scammers could face fines up to $1 million for committing COVID vaccine fraud as New York leaders and law enforcement brace for schemes, theft and line-jumping during the ongoing rollout.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order Monday establishing the hefty fine and the revocation of state licenses for any healthcare provider or pharmacist caught engaging in fraud. The measure comes amid an investigation into the company ParCare, which allegedly misappropriated vaccines and administered them to people in Brooklyn not included on the state’s priority list. 

“We are very serious about this, and this is the type of fraud that will be uncovered on the old adage that people talk,” Cuomo said. “People talk, we will find out, and it's not worth risking your license as well as a possible civil and criminal penalty."

Attorney General Letitia James is handling the investigation into ParCare and has warned New Yorkers about future vaccine schemes. Her office has brought charges against various individuals and companies engaged in fraud or price-gouging related to COVID-19 over the past nine months.

“Throughout this pandemic, scammers have found ways to victimize the public, with the vaccine distribution process being their latest method for fraud,” James said. 

Several schemes have affected consumers and residents in Queens. 

A spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the office’s Frauds Bureau is currently investigating at least 12 claims of fraud related to COVID-19.

COVID fraud coincided with the early days of the pandemic. In April, prosecutors charged a team caught jacking up the usual cost of face masks.

A March order from New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection made it illegal to increase the normal prices of items needed to stop the spread of coronavirus, like masks, hand sanitizer and soap, by more than 10 percent. 

“Exploiting people’s need to protect themselves for personal gain is always wrong,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea at the time. “It is unconscionable in an ongoing pandemic, when everyone from healthcare providers to police officers to everyday New Yorkers needs this life-saving equipment.”