FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 24, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Photo via Twitter/Councilwoman Lynn Schulman
The vandalized front window of the dental
clinic at 68-55 Harrow St. in Forest Hills.
NYPD removes
antisemitic graffi ti
on dental offi ce
window in Forest Hills
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Antisemitic graffi ti that was scrawled
across the front window of a Forest Hills
dental offi ce on Saturday, Feb. 12, has
been removed by police offi cers from
the NYPD 112th Precinct, according to
Councilwoman Lynn Schulman’s offi ce.
Th e window of the dental clinic at
68-55 Harrow St. was vandalized with
hate-fi lled words that said “F*** Jews”
in black marker.
Th e antisemitic graffi ti was found by
a local rabbi aft er Shabbat on Saturday
night, according to Schulman.
Th e councilwoman tweeted a photo of
the vandalized window saying, “Th ere is
no place for this disgusting antisemitic
vandalism anywhere.”
Schulman reported the incident
to the NYPD 112th Precinct and the
NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, which
are investigating the incident.
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards took to Twitter saying, “Th ere
are no words to accurately describe how
hideous and vile this is. Hate cannot be
accepted anywhere, but especially not in
the World’s Borough.”
Richards added, “If you spew antisemitism
or hate in our borough, you
will be caught. You will be prosecuted.
You will never win.”
State Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi,
Congresswoman Grace Meng and
Senator Joseph Addabbo issued a joint
statement thanking the NYPD 112th
Precinct for their quick response in
regards to the matter.
“Th e antisemitic graffi ti found on
Saturday night has no place in Queens
or anywhere in our society. We will not
tolerate this hate. Our offi ces have been
in contact with the 112th Precinct and
the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit. We stand
united with our Jewish community,” the
lawmakers said.
Th is past weekend, Mayor Eric
Adams encouraged anyone with information
regarding the incident to reach
out to the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit.
“Th is would be disgusting anytime
but it’s especially outrageous as we come
to the end of Shabbos. We won’t let this
vicious hatred go unanswered in our
city,” Adams tweeted.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney Offi ce for the Eastern District of New York
Little Neck resident Jia Liu, already charged for taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested and charged in a COVID-19 vaccination card
fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors.
Little Neck Marine Reservist charged in Capitol
riot allegedly sold fake COVID-19 vax cards: Feds
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A U.S. Marine Corps Reservist from
Little Neck, who was arrested in October
and charged with taking part in the
Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington,
D.C., was arrested last week by federal
agents and charged in a separate case for
allegedly conspiring to sell hundreds of
counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards
to his fellow reservists, according to
federal prosecutors.
An indictment was unsealed in
Brooklyn charging Jia Liu, 26, and Steven
Rodriguez, a fellow reservist from Long
Island, with conspiring to commit forgery
in connection with their scheme to
distribute and sell phony vax cards. Liu
was additionally charged with conspiring
to defraud the Department of Defense for
providing the card to fellow reservists.
“As alleged, by deliberately distributing
fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination
cards to the unvaccinated, the defendants
put military and other communities
at risk of contracting a virus that has
already claimed nearly 1 million lives in
this country,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace
said. “Th is offi ce remains committed to
rooting out and prosecuting those individuals
who threaten our public health
and safety for profi t.”
Th e indictment alleges that from at
least March 2021 to February 2022, Liu
and Rodriguez conspired to steal and
forge COVID-19 vaccination cards to
falsely record persons as immunized with
vaccines that protect against COVID-19,
when in reality, they had not been immunized.
In addition to selling stolen and
false cards to unvaccinated persons, Liu
and Rodriguez also conspired to enter
false COVID-19 vaccination records
into New York state databases, allowing
unvaccinated individuals to receive the
Excelsior Pass, which displays a user’s
vaccination status in a digital app.
According to court documents, Lin
purchased blank COVID-19 vaccination
cards from Rodriguez, and then
forged and distributed them to buyers
and other co-conspirators for a profi t. Liu
also directed buyers to meet Rodriguez
in person at the healthcare clinic to purchase
fraudulent cards. Rodriguez would
meet the buyer, but instead of administering
the vaccine, he destroyed a vial of a
vaccine intended to be used on a patient.
He then provided a forged COVID-19
vaccination card to the buyer, making it
falsely appear that the buyer had received
a dose of the vaccine. He further made
entries in the immunization databases
falsely indicating that the buyer had been
vaccinated.
Aft er the U.S. Department of Defense
imposed a requirement that all active
and reserve military service members
be vaccinated against COVID-19, from
August 2021 to January 2022, Liu created
and distributed false COVID-19 vaccination
cards to United States Marine Corps
reservists to help them evade vaccination
requirements.
Th e defendants promoted their scheme
through messages on encrypted messaging
applications and on social media.
Th ey referred to COVID-19 vaccination
cards using code names, such as
“gift cards,” “Cardi Bs,” “Christmas cards”
and “Pokemon cards.” Th e defendants
distributed at least 300 stolen or false
COVID-19 vaccination cards and created
more than 70 false entries in the
immunization databases.
“Th e COVID-19 vaccination card
fraud scheme allegedly perpetrated by
Liu and Rodriguez resulted in more than
300 stolen or false vaccination cards circulating
throughout the community, and
in the destruction of multiple doses of a
vaccine intended to protect people from
the most severe eff ects of the virus,”
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Michael J.
Driscoll said. “Schemers who defraud
the government in any way — and
profi t from pocketing the funds— will
continue to be held accountable.”
If convicted, Liu and Rodriguez face up
to 10 years in prison.
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