Two Long Island nurses made $1.5 million off fake vaccination cards, police say

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Two nurses on Lengthy Island are accused of forging COVID-19 vaccination playing cards and pocketing greater than $1.5 million from the scheme, prosecutors and police mentioned.

Julie DeVuono, the proprietor of Wild Little one Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and her worker, Marissa Urraro, are each charged with felony forgery, and DeVuono is also charged with providing a false instrument for submitting. Each had been arraigned Friday.

Urraro’s lawyer, Michael Alber, urged individuals to not rush to judgment concerning the allegations and mentioned his consumer is a well-respected nurse.

“We look ahead to highlighting the authorized impediments and defects of the investigation,” he mentioned Saturday. “It’s our hope that an accusation undoubtedly doesn’t overshadow the nice work Miss Urraro’s executed for kids and adults within the medical discipline.”

A messages searching for remark was left with DeVuono’s lawyer.

Suffolk County District Legal professional Raymond Tierney mentioned DeVuono and Urraro handed out faux vaccination playing cards, charging $220 for adults and $85 for kids. DeVuono, a nurse practitioner, and Urraro, a licensed sensible nurse, entered the false data into the state’s immunization database, he mentioned.

Prosecutors mentioned the nurses cast a faux card displaying a vaccine was given to an undercover detective however by no means administered the vaccine to the detective.

Legislation enforcement officers searched DeVuono’s residence and mentioned they seized about $900,000 in money and a ledger displaying earnings of greater than $1.5 million from the scheme, which started in November 2021.

“I hope this sends a message to others who're contemplating gaming the system that they'll get caught and that we are going to implement the legislation to the fullest extent,” Tierney mentioned in an announcement with different officers.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison added, “As nurses, these two people ought to perceive the significance of respectable vaccination playing cards as all of us work collectively to guard public well being.”