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DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Maurice Beavers
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DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Aaliyah Sharif
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A Georgia couple is the latest case of visitors who allegedly attempted to circumvent Hawaii’s Safe Travels program by submitting falsified COVID-19 vaccination cards.
The state Department of the Attorney General provided details on Tuesday’s arrests of Maurice Beavers, 37, and Aaliyah Sharif, 36, of Atlanta, who purportedly violated Gov. David Ige’s emergency proclamation by attempting to bypass the state’s 10-day mandatory quarantine by using falsified vaccination documents.
The couple arrived in Hawaii on Aug. 26 and presented negative COVID-19 tests that were not from any of the state’s trusted partners, said special agent Bill Albright of the Attorney General’s Office.
An airport screener informed them they were required to quarantine. At some point the couple uploaded vaccination cards to the Safe Travels program.
The next day, special agents were alerted by the screener’s manager of discrepancies on the couple’s vaccination cards. “Underneath where the name was written, there was no line,” he said adding the vaccine lot numbers on the cards also appeared altered.
Albright contacted the Georgia Department of Health, which has an immunization registry for residents. The department confirmed that the couple did not get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Agents arrested the couple at an undisclosed hotel in Waikiki upon checkout shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday. Beavers and Sharif were released that day after each posted $2,000 bail.
Albright said the couple had a flight back to Georgia that night. They are scheduled to appear Wednesday via Zoom at their arraignment at Honolulu District Court.
Investigators with the state Department of Attorney General have arrested seven people on Oahu since Aug. 8 for alleged use of falsified vaccination documents.