The health ministry has made a formal police complaint against the biggest of the 23 companies offering ‘test for entry’ services for giving customers fake vaccination certificates, Dutch media report.

The company, named as Spoedtest.nl by the Telegraaf, no longer has access to the coronavirus app system and can no longer make new appointments. The company itself has been charged with informing people who have appointments that they must make a new one with another firm.

According to the Telegraaf, the police are taking the matter ‘very seriously’ and health inspectors have also been called in. Spoedtest.nl is thought to have carried out around 20% of the test for entry checks.

The company has confirmed to the Telegraaf that is is under investigation but denies any wrongdoing.

‘The test provider will do all it can to facilitate the health ministry investigation and to show that suspicions of sending false vaccination certificates are completely without merit,’ director Rasmus Emmelkamp told the paper.

Both generating and selling fake QR codes is a criminal offence because you are ‘endangering your own health and those of others,’ the ministry said.

CoronaCheck app

The ‘test for entry’ system allows people who have not been vaccinated to get a free coronavirus test, which is then registered in the CoronaCheck app, giving a green tick at cafes and bars.

According to Stichting Open Nederland, which runs the system, over 660,000 tests were carried out in the week to November 14.  The 23 test centres were operating at over 600 testing locations nationwide.

Spoedtest.nl says on its website that it has over 100 locations nationwide. As well as the free test for entry antigen tests, the company offers PCR tests from upwards of €80, depending on how fast the results are required.