Two men from Luton have been sentenced after creating and selling more than 2,000 fake Covid vaccination records, allowing unvaccinated people to travel abroad and attend gatherings during the pandemic.
Waqas Hanif, 28, was jailed for three years, while Touqir Nasir, 31, received a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. Nasir must also observe a six-month curfew.
The pair were investigated jointly by the National Crime Agency and NHS England over fraudulent records created between June and October 2021 at Kingsway Health Centre in Luton.
Hanif worked at the centre as a vaccination programme care co-ordinator and had administrator access to Pinnacle, the NHS system used to record vaccinations. The NCA said customers paid between £80 and £150 for two fake doses, with offers circulated through social media platforms including Telegram.
Investigators identified 2,663 suspicious entries linked to Kingsway Health Centre. Of those, 1,875 were traced to five internet addresses associated with Hanif’s home.
A search of a safe deposit box rented by Hanif uncovered £136,405 in cash. Officers also found his NHS identification card, NHS documents and around £7,000 at his home, while images recovered from his phone contained the names and addresses of about 340 patients.
More than £56,000 was paid into a bank account opened by Nasir under the name Adam Parker, which he had adopted by deed poll. Investigators said many of the deposits were between £100 and £400 and matched names linked to false vaccination records. A further £1,000 was transferred to Hanif.
Hanif admitted creating the records but told investigators he had acted under pressure from local criminals. He pleaded guilty to offences under the Computer Misuse Act, the Fraud Act and the Proceeds of Crime Act at Luton Crown Court in March 2025.
Nasir pleaded guilty to fraud in December 2025 and later admitted a Proceeds of Crime Act offence. He was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on 3 September 2026.
Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said the men had “cynically abused our healthcare system for financial gain” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said exploiting the NHS system to help unvaccinated people bypass restrictions designed to protect the public was illegal, adding that the investigation had prevented organised criminals from further undermining the national pandemic response.
