'More than 110,000' fake Covid health passes circulating in France

French health passes are required to enter restaurants, cultural venues or use long-distance public transport. GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT AFP/Archives

French police are stepping up arrests over the use fraudulent health passes, Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said – adding that 400 investigations have been opened since the passes were first introduced over the summer.

Speaking on France 2 during the week, Darmanin said more than 110,000 fake passes were doing the rounds, with some 100 people arrested so far. Some were user of the fake passes, and others were involved in trafficking networks.

"The problem with fake health passes is that it is often in complicity with real doctors or nurses," explained the minister, adding it was difficult to prove a pass had been faked.

➡️Faux #pass sanitaire

«Si les personnes qui ont un faux pass reconnaissent leur erreur et se font vacciner, nous serons indulgents, s'ils ne le font pas nous les condamnerons.»
🗨️ @GDarmanin Ministre de l’Intérieur

▶️ #les4V @Caroline_Roux pic.twitter.com/Ej6FLCmZRd

— Caroline Roux (@Caroline_Roux) December 16, 2021

Jail time

Some prison sentences have already been handed down, "particularly for pass users", said Darmanin, who stressed that penalties for using or manufacturing them included up to five years in prison.

At the end of November, a doctor in Val-de-Marne suspected of selling at least 220 fake health passes was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.

• French and British interior ministers meet as tension over migration simmers
• Darmanin tells police chiefs to take immediate action against domestic violence

Darmanin also said he was in favour of dropping charges against people with a fake pass who wanted to get it right. 

According to the French health latest figures, nearly 3,000 patients are in intensive care, a number that is expected to rise to 4,000 by the end of the year.