Fake ‘Maderna’ vaccine card lands Illinois woman in Hawaii jail, police say

An Illinois woman who showed a fake vaccine card listing two “Maderna” shots has been arrested in Hawaii after trying to evade the state’s strict COVID-19 rules, police say.

The 24-year-old Oak Lawn woman uploaded false documents to bypass state quarantine rules, including a vaccine card that misspelled “Moderna” as “Maderna,” Hawaii News Now reported.

Visitors to Hawaii are required to quarantine after arriving unless they have uploaded valid COVID-19 vaccine cards under the state’s Safe Travels program.

The woman arrived on Aug. 23 and authorities began an investigation after an administrator with the program tipped them off about the misspelling, KHON reported.

“That’s one indication, as well as other things that in the card they thought it was suspicious and as part of being suspicious they did an excellent job of notifying us,” Special Agent William Lau of the attorney general’s office told the station.

The woman also had no reservation at the hotel listed on her travel forms and did not list her return flight, KHON reported.

Investigators discovered that Delaware, listed on the vaccine card, had no record of the woman being vaccinated, Hawaii News Now reported.

Officers tracked her down and arrested her Sunday at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport as she arrived for her flight home, KITV reported. She’s being held on $2,000 bail.

The woman told officers she had been vaccinated by her doctor, Hawaii News Now reported. She was traveling with another woman, who was not arrested.

If convicted, the woman faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, KITV reported.

Earlier in August, Hawaii authorities arrested a father and son suspected of using fake vaccine cards to try to evade the state’s rules, McClatchy News reported.

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Fake ‘Maderna’ vaccine card lands Illinois woman in Hawaii jail, police say."