Ex-pharmacy employee sentenced to house arrest, community service for fake vaccine certificates

A person scans a QR code from the Quebec government's COVID-19 vaccine passport. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes)

Maxime Proulx, a former employee of a pharmacy in Brossard on Montreal’s South Shore, was sentenced at the Longueuil courthouse on Tuesday to two years minus one day of house arrest for forgery, use of falsified documents and unauthorized use of a computer.

Quebec’s anti-corruption unit (UPAC) notes that he will also be required to participate in 240 hours of community service as part of a probation order.

Additionally, $90,000 was seized as proceeds of crime.

An investigation by the Commissioner for Anti-Corruption (CLCC) revealed that while employed at the pharmacy, Proulx produced 236 fake vaccination passports between July 2021 and January 2022.

The former assistant technical manager also entered false vaccination data in exchange for money totalling at least $90,000.

The CLCC is a specialized police force whose mission is to coordinate, prevent and combat corruption in the public sector.