Police: "Basically opposed to COVID... Do not think vaccination is necessary"
Maria Carmel Pau, a woman in her 40s accused of impersonating a doctor and issuing hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccine exemption certificates in Australia, has been indicted. /Photo by Carmel Pau Instagram capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] A woman in her 40s in Australia has been indicted on charges of impersonating a doctor and issuing 600 fake COVID-19 vaccine exemption certificates. It was revealed that she was formerly a drug addict and prostitute.
According to Australian media on the 14th (local time), Maria Carmel Pau (45), who is accused of impersonating a doctor and issuing fake COVID-19 vaccine exemption certificates, is scheduled to stand trial at the Queensland court later this month.
Queensland police arrested Pau on the 13th and charged her with falsely obtaining a medical professional position five times under the health practitioners' related regulations.
Investigations revealed that Pau issued about 600 COVID-19 related exemption certificates at $150 each. These certificates reportedly stated exemptions from COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and mask-wearing.
However, all these certificates were fake, and Pau was not qualified to issue them. Although she earned a doctoral degree in June 2021 with a thesis related to drug addiction, she was not a medical doctor. Additionally, Pau was not registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency or Australia's public healthcare system, Medicare.
A woman in her 40s, Maria Carmel Pau, has been charged with issuing hundreds of fake COVID-19 vaccine exemption certificates by impersonating a doctor in Australia. /Photo by Carmel Pau Instagram capture
According to Pau’s autobiography, which once became an Amazon bestseller, she is originally from the Philippines and came to Australia as a teenager. In the book, she wrote about her experiences with drug addiction after starting to use methamphetamine. Pau also revealed in the book that she "sold her body to buy drugs."
After overcoming drug addiction, Pau submitted a thesis on online coaching for drug addicts to the University of Queensland and began calling herself "Dr. Maria Power."
At a press conference held in Brisbane, a police official said, "She is fundamentally against COVID. She does not believe people should get vaccinated. She does not think she is doing anything wrong."
In recent months, Pau has posted various anti-vaccination statements on her social media accounts. She claimed that COVID-19 vaccinations have caused "12,000 deaths and that the number of deaths is increasing," and said, "I have never seen the confusion about having to wear masks and maintain social distancing even after vaccination."
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