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Who is Michael J Kirk Moore? Utah plastic surgeon and staff charged with running massive Covid vaccine scam

Two undercover agents went through the procedure, one of whom inquired about giving cards to his children as well

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH: A Utah plastic surgeon and a few of his staff have been charged with running a massive Covid vaccine scam in which they are suspected of ordering thousands of doses of the shots, discarding them, and providing patients with fake vaccination cards. Prosecutors claimed that in other instances, they gave children saline injections at their parents' request in order to make it appear as though they had received vaccinations when, in reality, they hadn't. 

Dr Michael J Kirk Moore, 58, has been charged along with nurse Kari Dee Burgoyne, 52, and neighbor Kristin Jackson Andersen, 59. Sandra Flores, 31, another of his employees, was also indicted, as per the Daily Mail report. According to federal authorities in Utah, the scam was carried out at Dr Moore's practice called The Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah in Sandy, south of Salt Lake City. 

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It is unclear from the accusation why the accused doctor Michael J Kirk Moore and staff allegedly engaged in the scam. Prosecutors made no mention of whether any of the defendants are actually anti-vaxxers or if they were merely looking to profit. The indictment, however, alleges that Andersen and Moore are both participants in an unidentified group that is "seeking to liberate the medical profession from government and industry conflicts of interest." Daily Mail report states that they made $96,850 in profit by selling over 2,000 phony vaccination cards overall. 

Between October 2021 and September 2022, the group pretended to give 391 children shots, 524 shots for adult Pfizer shots, 64 Moderna shots from Moderna, and 958 J&J shots. Prosecutors claimed that they actually used syringes to pour them down the drain. Now, each of them faces charges for damaging government property. They were charged with a crime in early January 2023 but the indictment wasn't made public until this week in a Utah court. It explains how they "began to notify" customers who wanted a vaccination card but not a vaccination that they would give it to them starting in 2021.

It's not known if they marketed the service or if the patients found them on their own. It is claimed that after making investigations, Dr Moore gave the patient to Burgoyne, who then gave them to Andersen. Patients were instructed to text Andersen the entire name of the referral source. She once texted an undercover FBI agent, saying, "We do referral only." She would ask patients to send a $50 payment via Venmo or PayPal after the referral name was given, instructing them to include an orange emoji in the remarks section to indicate what the payment was for.

Prosecutors claimed that after doing so, she completed the required paperwork and returned it to the doctor's office. The patient would allegedly go to the office to pick up their vaccination card after that. Two undercover agents went through the procedure, one of whom inquired about giving cards to his children as well. Flores allegedly scribbled on a post-it note, "with 18 & younger, we do a saline shot," according to that agent. 

As per reports, the group is accused of conspiring to defraud the US, conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property and conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property, and aiding and abetting. All will appear before a judge on January 24, 2023, and might spend up to five years behind bars.

Meanwhile internet began slamming Dr Moore Jr for the biggest scam with one writing, "So... shouldn't parents be allowed to parent? They wanted their children to get the shot and he flat out prevented that from happening. He deserves to be held legally responsible." another wrote, "If those parents and children had looked at their options and still CHOSE to get the vaccine, he violated their individual right to choose." Anther person tweeted, 'He should lose his license. Making a personal decision without including the patient (or their parents) is a complete breaking of trust." "Only 5 years for tampering with patients' health care and trust? Only 5 years for conspiracy to commit a crime? It should be more. 2x the sentence," remarked another.

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