"I've just been spending it in Dubai bro."
An undercover report has revealed that a banker from Yorkshire has been selling fake Covid-19 negative test certificates to Britons so they can travel abroad.
He also boasted of blowing the proceeds on luxury cars and a prostitute in Dubai, after travelling there using one of the bogus documents.
Danyal Sajid, aged 21, told undercover reporters from the Daily Mail that he had already sold up to 50 of the documents.
In addition to selling them individually, he runs the illegal business as a franchise and trades the fake certificate template to others for £500.
This means hundreds of people may have travelled abroad with fake negative results while Covid-19 positive.
After arriving in Dubai, Sajid hired a Range Rover, Mercedes G-Wagon, Mercedes GTC, Mercedes GTS and Mercedes S63.
He bragged about spending £500 in a night at the Five Palm Jumeirah hotel and also spent £300 on a Spanish prostitute.
Sajid revealed he did not know how much he made from the scam, saying:
“I’ve just been spending it in Dubai bro.”
When told that one person who purchased a fake certificate tested positive, Sajid remained unfazed.
He expects a surge in business as tourism becomes possible again. Sajid told reporters that the loophole was easy to exploit because it is virtually impossible for airline staff to check if documents are real.
The banker also said he is planning a second scam when vaccinations come out if similar certificates are issued.
Sajid, who openly advertises on social media, said he does “anything he can” on the side to make extra money.
Reporters bought one of Sajid’s certificates for £75, less than a third of the £250 for taking a test and getting a legitimate document.
The bogus certificate was in the name of SameDayDoctor, a respected chain of private clinics. It also had a signature of one of the company’s doctors.
However, the clinic had no involvement, saying they were appalled by the fraudulent use of their documents.
The banker explained that he started the scam in October 2020 after his cousin got a genuine certificate to travel to Pakistan.
He said: “I looked at it and I was like, there’s no number, let me scan this.
“I was messing about with it and then I got people interested and boom, it just took off, man, it just took off…
“We’ve got the template… and just change the names. It’s the proper thing.
“Now they’re going to start doing vaccines, but there’s going to be a unique code for vaccines if you’ve been injected or not. But we’ll find a way.”
Sajid, who works for a major UK bank, said he had created “forty to fifty” of the certificates including for himself, friends and one of their girlfriends who were currently in Dubai.
He said:
“It’s just a hole in the system. They’re not going to scan it, there’s no bar code. There’s no certain unique number for you.”
“That’s the loophole in it. Everyone knows the chances of them calling are very low. They’re not going to sit down on any airline and go through 300 doctors’ numbers.
“Number one, doctors are way too busy now, even to pick up the phone. Number two, I don’t know if they can, it’s private and confidential information.”
The abuse of Covid-19 test certificates have caused concern.
Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said:
“This is absolutely appalling. He is literally profiting from something that could reasonably certainly lead to somebody’s death or, if not death, to somebody getting severely debilitating Covid 19.
“The spread from one positive person travelling using a negative certificate could end up causing the death of someone’s granny.”
He stated that the simplicity of the fraud meant this could be the tip of the iceberg:
“If this becomes even more of a problem there are going to have to be stronger measures to stop counterfeiting.”
Sajid has since denied any knowledge of the scam.
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