Tourists face $5,000 fine for fake vaccine passports

Visitors to Hawaii face up to a year in prison

Hawaii requires vaccine proof from travellers to avoid quarantine (Getty Images)

Two tourists to Hawaii face a fine of up to $5,000 (£3,618) and up to a year in prison after presenting forged vaccine passports.

The pair were arrested after falsifying vaccination cards in order to bypass quarantine on entry to the islands from the US mainland.

Norbert Chung, 57, and Trevor Chung, 19, were charged with violating the state’s Safe Travels programme.

The scheme facilitates travel from the rest of the States, enabling fully vaccinated passengers to swerve the otherwise mandatory 10-day quarantine for arrivals without the need to show proof of a negative Covid test.

“The Department of the Attorney General will investigate and prosecute those who cheat the Safe Travels program, which was established to keep our islands safe,” a spokesperson from Department of the Attorney General told USA Today in a statement.

The arrests were made following a tip off from a community member before they arrived in Hawaii, the statement said.

Hawaii Governor David Ige said at a press conference: “We've been pretty aggressive in enforcing and prosecuting those violators that we have become aware of.

“We have pursued quarantine violations. We do have a case where we had travellers forging vaccination records that we've filed charges against.”

It’s the first case brought against anyone for forging vaccine proof in violation of the state’s Safe Travels programme.

It follows the news that two women who flew from Sydney to Melbourne while infected with Covid-19 have been fined AU$5,452 (£2,900) each.

The pair managed to board Qantas flight 471 in Sydney, New South Wales, without having their permits checked prior to departure.

The permits were checked on arrival in Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria, when it was discovered that they were not valid.

The women were carrying “green zone” permits when they should have been carrying “red zone” permits, reflecting the current designation of the state of New South Wales.

The pair were transferred to hotel quarantine in Melbourne, where they went on to test positive for Covid-19.