110,000 fake health passes are circulating in France. “There have been more than a hundred arrests out of the 400 investigations which have started to be opened”, since the introduction in the summer of the compulsory pass in certain places, specified on France 2 the Minister of Interior Gérald Darmanin.
There are 110,000 fake health passes in France, AFP learned Thursday from the entourage of the Minister of the Interior. “There have been more than a hundred arrests out of the 400 investigations which have started to be opened”, since the introduction in the summer of the compulsory pass in certain places, specified on France 2 the Minister of Interior Gérald Darmanin. These arrests target both users and trafficking networks, says his entourage. “The problem with false health passes is that it is often in complicity with real doctors or real nurses”, explained the minister according to whom “it is very difficult to prove”.
Sometimes firm prison sentences are handed down
Sentences to suspended prison “and sometimes firm prison” have already been handed down, “in particular for pass users”, continued Gérald Darmanin, who underlines that the penalty can be up to five years in prison. At the end of November, a doctor from Val-de-Marne suspected of having sold at least 220 fake health passes was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.
The Minister of the Interior also said he was in favor of dropping the prosecution of people holding a false pass and who would like to comply. According to the latest figures, nearly 3,000 patients are in intensive care and the figure should reach 4,000 at the time of the end of the year holidays, said government spokesman Gabriel Attal. A health defense council is to be held on Friday afternoon.