The director of pharmacy at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley hospital was one of 21 people charged this week by the U.S. Department of Justice for their alleged roles in a variety of COVID-19 scams.
The pharmacist, Ranna Shamiya, is one of three people prosecutors say abetted a Napa-based naturopath at the center of a scheme to produce fake coronavirus vaccination cards and sell bogus COVID cures.
Shamiya was charged with making false statements related to health care matters.
“We learned about this just two days ago, and we took immediate action. She is now a former employee,” said Adam Istas, public information officer for Adventist Health Mendocino County. “Our understanding of this situation pretty much mirrors that of the Justice Department.”
According to the department, Shamiya, 41, used her access to controlled medical information to identify legitimate lot numbers for FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines, and transmitted that information to Juli Mazi, the Napa homeopathic doctor.
Mazi then used the lot numbers to create fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards. Those cards would falsely indicate that Mazi’s customers received an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine with a verified lot number.
A voice message left on a phone believed to belong to Shamiya went unanswered Thursday.
If convicted, Shamiya could face five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, according to prosecutors.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing,” Istas…
