New York State police will refer the ParCare Community Health Network to the New York Attorney General’s office for alleged misappropriation of the Moderna vaccine, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday.
State commissioner Howard Zucker said the Orange County-based health care provider obtained the vaccine under false pretenses, moved it to Brooklyn, and gave it to people who were not on the priority list. While ParCare is the only organization currently under criminal investigation, the governor said recipients of the vaccine who violated the state’s distribution plan could also be charged.
“Whenever you have a valuable product that is being provided, you can expect fraud,” said Cuomo.
Under New York’s current plan for “1A” distribution, only medical workers, first responders and nursing home personnel should receive the coronavirus vaccine. Other groups will follow in future rounds.
“We take this very seriously,” Zucker said in a statement last week. “Anyone who knowingly participated in this scheme will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
New York State Police and other detectives were at the ParCare site in Borough Park Saturday night.
A ParCare spokesperson told ABC News Sunday evening that it is cooperating with the state investigation and will return the unused vials. ParCare received 2,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine, of which 869 have already been administered, the spokesman said.
“ParCare followed all NYS DOH procedures to obtain the Moderna vaccine and was approved by NYS DOH for distribution and by CDC as a networking site. As a result, we received the vaccines properly and received the documentation on proper receipt of the vaccines provided to the NYS DOH, ” the spokesman told ABC News.
Regarding the patients who received their first injection, ParCare said it “will work with the state to ensure that we provide the second dose for our patients.”
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira, Sasha Pezenik and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.