This document provided by the Hawaii Attorney General's Office shows a fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card from a tourist visiting Hawaii. The Illinois woman submitted the fake card to avoid Hawaii's 10-day traveler quarantine, according to authorities, but there a glaring spelling error that led to her arrest: Moderna was misspelled "Maderna." (Hawaii Attorney General's Office via AP)
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher
A 24-year-old Illinois woman submitted a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to visit Hawaii with a glaring spelling error that led to her arrest: Moderna was spelled “Maderna," according to court documents.
In order to bypass Hawaii's 10-day traveler quarantine, she uploaded a vaccination card to the state's Safe Travels program and arrived in Honolulu Aug. 23 on a Southwest Airlines flight, the documents said.
“Airport screeners found suspicious errors ... such as Moderna was spelled wrong and that her home was in Illinois but her shot was taken at Delaware,” Wilson Lau, a special agent with the Hawaii attorney general's investigation division, wrote in an email to a Delaware official who confirmed there was no vaccination record for the woman under her name and birth date.
The email is included in documents filed in court. She was charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating Hawaii's emergency rules to control the spread of COVID-19. She had been in custody on $2,000 bail until a judge released her at a hearing Wednesday and scheduled another hearing in three weeks, according the public defender's office.
State Public Defender James Tabe, whose office represented her at hearings this week, declined to comment on her case, noting it's not clear if she'll hire her own attorney or apply to have a public defender represent her.
The voicemail at a number listed for her in court documents was full Wednesday. She didn't immediately respond to a text message from The Associated Press.
In addition to the suspicious card, authorities determined that the travel information she provided listed she would be staying at a Waikiki Holiday Inn but didn't include a reservation number and return flight information, court documents said.
An assistant manager at the hotel confirmed to Lau that she didn't have a reservation. Lau said in the court document that he tried to call the number she listed, but her voicemail was full. He said he emailed her and didn't get a response.
Lau said he searched for her on Facebook and found a photo showing a “distinctive tattoo on her left hip area.”
The tattoo helped authorities find her at a Southwest Airlines counter when she was trying to leave Honolulu on Aug. 28, the court document said. She showed her ID and vaccination card to Lau, who informed her she was being arrested for falsifying vaccination documents.
Other visitors to Hawaii have been arrested for fake vaccination cards, including a father and son from California, who appeared in court via Zoom Wednesday and waived their rights to a jury trial.
This November, Philips Norelco is partnering with Movember® in the United States and Canada to urge men to tackle health issues that are right under their noses. Brett Bardsley, Category Leader, Philips Grooming & Beauty, and Dr. Jake Taylor MD, MPH, Chief Urology Resident at NYU Langone Health, join None of the Above to break down how this partnership is more than just growing & grooming a Mo all month long, what men should know about their own mental and physical well-being, and the impact Philips continues to have as a global health technology company supporting men’s health programming and delivering meaningful innovations.
Learn more about how to get involved at Philips.com/Movember
Food delivery giant DoorDash is acquiring European food delivery company Wolt. The all-stock deal is valued at $8.1 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2022. The companies say they share a mission to build a global delivery platform. Gerber Kawasaki investment advisor Eva Agi joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what the deal means for Doordash, as well as its customers and investors.
Identity verification startup Socure recently raised $450 million dollars in a series E round, bringing the company's valuation to $4.5 billion. Socure says it is now the highest-valued private company in the identity verification space, and that the funds will be used to accelerate its mission to verify 100% of good identities and eliminate identity fraud across all industries. Socure Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Didi Hirsch CEO Jon Goldfinger and actor Sarah Gilman join Cheddar News in support of Didi Hirsch's social media campaign, which aims to bring awareness to its upcoming event, Alive Together: Uniting to Prevent Suicide.
Attorney Michael Burg joined Cheddar's Jill Wagner to give more insight into the legal fallout of Travis Scott's deadly Astroworld festival, where at least eight people died and dozens more were injured.
The Biden Administration has issued a new order aimed at all federal agencies which would order them to patch hundreds of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Chief Evangelist at Intrusion Gary Davis and Chief Security Advisor at SentinelOne Morgan Wright, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
The electric vehicle space is about to see a whole new shift in its market particularly in Taxi Industry. Ride-Hailing apps like Uber and Lyft though could be left behind from this era since they cannot force their drivers to drive specific cars. Executive Analyst from ISeeCars.Com, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
