Woman arrested with fake ‘Maderna’ vaccine card at Honolulu airport, officials say

A woman who officials say submitted a fake COVID-19 vaccination card at the Honolulu airport to get out of the state’s 10-day quarantine mandate has been arrested and charged on suspicion of falsified vaccination documents, KHON reported. 

A Safe Travels Program administrator flagged the potentially fraudulent vaccine card on Aug. 23 after Chloe Mrozak, an Illinois resident, presented the card to the airport screener, according to the local news outlet. “Moderna” was spelled as “Maderna” on the card. 

24-year-old Chloe Mrozak from Illinois was arrested after allegedly using this fake #COVID19 vaccine card to enter Hawaii and avoid travel restrictions — it says “Maderna” instead of “Moderna” @KITV4 pic.twitter.com/1EWp3eG3OR

— Tom George (@TheTomGeorge) August 31, 2021

Special agent William Lau of the Department of the Attorney General told KHON the misspelling was “one indication, as well as other things” that administrators at the Honolulu airport thought were suspicious “and as part of being suspicious they did an excellent job of notifying us.” 

Mrozak reported that she received her vaccine in Delaware, but when the special agent in charge of the investigation into Mrozak contacted Delaware officials to confirm her vaccination status, no record was found, according to KHON. 

On Aug. 26, the special agent met with other agents on the Quarantine Compliance Check (QCC) team to determine what actions to take in regards to Mrozak’s case, the news outlet reported. The team believed she would likely fly out of Honolulu on a Southwest Airlines flight rather than on American Airlines since most Southwest flights are purchased as round-trip tickets to reduce the cost, KHON noted.

“It was a joint effort that we were able to locate her, and found out when she was leaving even though she was evasive about her lodging location,” Lau told KHON. 

The QCC team located Mrozak on Aug. 28 at the Southwest Airlines counter, where she was arrested on suspicion of falsified vaccination documents. The special agent in charge of her case reported that Mrozak’s bail was set at $2,000. 

The case is the latest in a series of incidents of people accused of using fraudulent vaccine cards. The Manhattan district attorney’s office this week filed charges against 15 individuals for their alleged involvement in a scheme to provide fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.