A Chinese national has been arrested in Manila for allegedly selling bogus COVID-19 vaccination slots at P18,000 each, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Thursday, Sept. 16.
The NBI identified the arrested suspect as Xiao Shi, also known as Feng Wang Qun.
It said Shi was arrested last Sept. 9 during an entrapment operation conducted by agents of the NBI’s Anti-Fraud Division (NBI-AFD) at a mall in Manila where he was caught accepting P5,000 as additional payment from one of his victims.
NBI Agents seized from the suspect COVID-19 vaccination identification (ID) cards with the names Qun F. Wang, Cuiyin Lin, and Wenjuan Yang.
“Online verification conducted on the Covid Vaccination cards recovered from Subject Shi’s possession showed that the QR Codes of the vaccination IDs are either tampered or non-existent with the exception of Wenjuan Yang showing that the latter is fully vaccinated,” the NBI said.
With his arrest, Shi was presented for inquest before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office for Estafa under Article 315, Direct Assault under Article 148, and Disobedience of Lawful Orders of Persons in Authority under Article 151 – both under the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
The NBI said the entrapment operation stemmed from a complaint from a female victim who already paid Shi P18,000 after being made to believe that he could secure for her a vaccination slot for her first dose.
It said the suspect “represented himself as a member of the Manila Covid-19 vaccination team and that he could secure a vaccination slot and inoculation for the complainant since he had the right connections with the Officials of Barangay 239 in Binondo, Manila.”
“However, after payment, Subject became elusive and kept telling the complainant to just wait. This led complainant to conduct her own verifications and contrary to Subject’s representation, the latter is not an employee nor connected with Manila Covax Team. Complainant likewise discovered that Covid vaccination slot in Manila is free. Realizing she was scammed, complainant reported the matter to NBI-AFD,” it added.
The NBI said “a follow up investigation/verification is on-going” to determine Shi’s connection with the Manila Covax Team and with barangay and health officials.