STA, 22 December 2021 - Police have filed criminal complaints against five men from the Gorenjska region and Ljubljana area over cheating in vaccination. One of the men allegedly took the shots for the others to get the Covid pass. The man was remanded in custody, the Kranj Police Department said on Wednesday.
A police investigation has revealed that the suspect got vaccinated at a vaccination centre several times in the last two months, showing the IDs of the four men, who subsequently got the Covid pass.
He had received one shot for each of three men before he was arrested and had appointments for the second shots. For the fourth man, he had received both shots already.
Together with the two shots he has received in his own name, he has been vaccinated seven times and was apprehended as he was about to receive the eighth shot.
The man was not paid much for the service that may have consequences for his health, which is why police suspect the four took advantage of the man's distress and personal circumstances for their own benefit.
Taking jabs in somebody else's name or presenting fake Covid certificates carries a sentence of up to three years in prison, police said.
Primož Donoša, head of the Kranj crime investigators, said all five persons were suspected of the same crime, i.e. certification of untrue contents. All five suspects are Slovenian citizens, with the four who did not get vaccinated aged between 30 and 50.
"Inquiries so far show we have never handled such a case before, definitely not in Gorenjska and I don't think in Slovenia either," said Donoša.
The police concluded their investigation last week before referring the case to the prosecution. It was opened based on a tip-off and was conducted in cooperation with the vaccination centre where the man got the jabs and which prevented him getting his eighth.
Lilijana Gantar Žura, the head of the Kranj health community centre, which performs vaccinations at the Kranj army barracks, confirmed they cooperated with the police in the investigation.
She said ID and health insurance cards were being strictly checked at the vaccination point, but they may have missed something when the vaccination centre was very busy.
Gantar Žura said she personally was not blaming the man who got vaccinated, but those who abused the man's distress and she believed they should be punished more severely.
Radio Slovenija has reported that the man who got the jabs for other people was allegedly a drug addict.
