Legal troubles have mounted for up to 82 NYC educators, including four assistant principals, accused of submitting fake vaccine cards to keep their Department of Education jobs.
Julie DeVuono, a nurse practitioner and owner of Wild Child Pediatric Center in Amityville on Long Island, revealed in an Aug. 4 email to customers that two co-defendants on charges they made $1.5M selling fake vax cards have flipped and become witnesses in the case.
“Unfortunately the time has come to prepare for battle,” DeVuono wrote in the email obtained by The Post.
The scandal stems from mandates imposed by governments and businesses for workers to receive vaccines amid the pandemic. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office charges DeVuono, along with a nurse and secretary at the clinic, doled out fake vax cards to hundreds of customers, charging adults $220 for each dose marked on the card ($440 for both) and $85 for kids. The clinic is known for offering holistic and natural remedies.
DeVuono is also accused of falsely listing clients as vaccinated in the New York State Immunization Information System, a felony.
“The Suffolk County prosecutor has fired the first shot across our bow,” DeVuono wrote in the email. “Based on the statements of their witnesses (the nurse and secretary arrested with me), they are moving forward with the premise that 99% of COVID vaccines given in my office were fake.”
None of the 82 educators who submitted cards they received from the practice have been charged to date. But DeVuono warned the District Attorney’s office “could use my possible conviction as evidence to pursue action against Covid vaccine recipients.”
She added: “My legal team believes we can counter it but WE NEED YOUR HELP!”
DeVuono is seeking to compile a list of 2,000 to 3,000 customers “who would be willing to affirm that they did in fact receive the vaccine,” and that any money paid was for “homeopathic detox pills,” the email said.
Those signing the list would not be obligated to testify, she added.
Several NYC teachers denied to The Post that they paid for fraudulent vaccine cards, insisting they paid up to $440 each for a “detox treatment” to ease any adverse reaction to the shots.
The educators are still on the payroll, but could lose their jobs or face criminal charges if implicated in the fraud.
Betsy Combier, a paralegal defending 30 teachers in the case, insisted her clients are all innocent, but added: “If someone bought a fake vaccine card, and a staffer working with Julie witnessed it, that customer could be charged.”
DeVuono and her lawyer could not be reached for comment.