
A Los Angeles County contract worker was charged Wednesday for allegedly stealing hundreds of blank Covid-19 vaccination cards from a vaccination center at the Pomona Fairplex in April, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office said.
Muhammad Rauf Ahmed, of Las Vegas, was charged with one felony count of grand theft, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.
Ahmed, 45, allegedly stole more than 500 blank cards from the vaccination site in Pomona where he was contracted to work. Officials determined that blank vaccine cards had been stolen on April 27, according to the statement.
Each card has a value of at least $15 if illegally sold, prosecutors said.
“Selling fraudulent and stolen vaccine cards is illegal, immoral and puts the public at risk of exposure to a deadly virus,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.
In response to the incident, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said it is cooperating with the La Verne Police Department in their investigation.
“Upon learning that this individual was in unauthorized possession of vaccination cards, the contractor was questioned, and County staff immediately referred the matter to the La Verne Police Department,” the department said. “Public Health has extensive security measures in place which allowed for the quick identification of the theft and after this incident in April added additional protocols to prevent future thefts.”
Ahmed is expected to be arraigned on Aug. 25.