(Yicai Global) July 28 -- A Shanghai court today sentenced a man to two years in prison and fined him CNY10,000 (USD1,540) for forging hospital seals to produce and sell fake coronavirus and medical test reports.

It is the first case in Shanghai where a criminal penalty has been imposed on a defendant for forging seals to produce false nucleic acid test reports.

The man, surnamed Xu, was also ordered to pay back all his illegal income, the People’s Court in Shanghai’s Jing’an district said on its official WeChat account, adding that the seized forged seals should be confiscated. It  did not disclose how much profit Xu made from the forgery.

Due to Covid-19 prevention requirements, many workplaces now require new employees to provide nucleic acid test reports or physical examination reports when they join.

Xu began providing false certificates and documents for a fee, even asking someone to make a fake ‘special seal for physical examination’ by a hospital in the city. He later expanded his business to make and sell fake nucleic acid test reports.

Xu forged and sold a total of six such reports, an investigation found. So far no positive Covid-19 cases have been reported among those who bought the mocked up reports.

Editor: Peter Thomas