Major COVID Testing Firm Under Investigation Over Possible Phony Vaccination Certificates
‘STRONG SUSPICIONS’
The largest COVID-19 testing company in the Netherlands has halted work after authorities launched an investigation over “strong suspicions” of the firm providing bogus vaccination certificates, according to local media reports. Spoedtest.nl has confirmed that it is the subject of an investigation but called the allegations “completely unfounded,” Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports. The company has 100 locations throughout the Netherlands and has played a huge role in coronavirus testing during the pandemic, but it has now been cut off from the country’s CoronaCheck system and is no longer able to schedule appointments or issue QR codes for those who test negative. Health authorities reportedly suspect some of the company’s doctors of abusing the CoronaCheck system to issue fraudulent proof of vaccination certificates. The director of the company, Rasmus Emmelkamp, has said it never provided vaccination certificates; by law, testing companies cannot provide proof of vaccination. The Netherlands re-imposed a partial lockdown on Saturday as its number of COVID cases again began to rapidly increase.