Mélissa Cuillerier, a nursing assistant who worked for the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Ouest (CISSSMO), has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud. The accused, a single mother, launched a social networking campaign to raise $5,000. 

At the end of her fraud trial, the young woman was fined $3,500 and given a six-month suspended prison sentence, which means she will serve her sentence at home. Thereafter, she will be subject to a curfew for a certain period. 

At the time of writing, the instigator of Go Fund Me has collected 7 donations totalling $250. 

On the Go Fund Me campaign page, the accused shares details of her legal case and her state of health, with a view to raising funds. In the last few hours, the young woman has removed some of the information posted. 

Supplying false vaccine passports 

Ms. Cuillerier's allegations date back to the pandemic, a period when the healthcare system was overloaded due to the health context. At the time, she was vaccinating at a pharmacy in Pincourt. 

To be able to continue practicing her profession, the nursing assistant receives three doses of vaccine herself.Then, in 2021, one of her good friends asked her to create a fake vaccination passport so that she could live a normal life. After some hesitation, she agreed to provide the service and entered her friend's health card details into the system. 

She was then asked to do the same for two families and five other antivaxers, two of whom risked losing their jobs if they weren't vaccinated. In exchange for this service, the young woman accepted $3,000, which she used to pay off her credit card.

In May 2023, the DPCP informed her that one count of fraud had been laid against her in connection with these events. "Many will say that this is good for me, but it's hard to accept. I worked hard during the pandemic with patients still in the field. I don't deserve this. I'm ready to live with the consequences, even if I think it's a lot," she writes on her Go Fund Me page.

Long COVID 

In the same publication, the accused states that she has been suffering from long-standing COVID since December 2022, in addition to having faced financial difficulties that brought her back to her father's home.

She says she relies on food bank assistance to make ends meet.Her state of health and the many symptoms she listed in a previous publication prevent her from returning to work.She claims to suffer from hair and eyebrow loss, diarrhea, tinnitus, numbness, chronic fatigue and memory loss. 

She also says she has had dark thoughts, and thanks the police for "helping me a lot and talking me through the necessary resources. It's a year of financial stress with everything that's going on right now," she concludes on her Go Fund Me page.