A Canadian casino mogul and his actress wife were accused of masquerading as motel workers to receive COVID-19 vaccines for Indigenous residents of a remote Yukon community.
Rodney Baker, 55, and his wife, Ekaterina Baker, 32, allegedly rented a private jet in Beaver Creek on Jan. 21 to get doses of the Modern shot, CBC reported.
“Effectively what they did was put our community and our isolation team at risk,” Yukon Minister of Community Services John Streicker said Monday.
“I’m pretty angry with all of this.”
Mobile clinic staff had administered the vaccine to about 100 Beaver Creek residents, most of whom are members of the White River First Nation.
According to the Yukon News, the wealthy couple allegedly lied to clinic workers about where they lived and worked.
But the couple raised suspicions when they asked for a trip to the airport after receiving their shots, Streicker said.
Clinic staff alerted authorities after the motel confirmed that the Bakers were not actually new employees.
Officers first searched for the couple at a nearby Whitehorse location, where they were supposed to be quarantined, and eventually found them at the airport, preparing to return to Vancouver, according to reports. the reports.
“We just didn’t anticipate anyone trying to effectively trick the team into getting vaccinated, and I think we all felt pretty offended by all of that,” Streicker told CBC.
The Bakers received two charges each under the Yukon Civil Emergency Measures Act, one for failing to self-isolate and the other for not following a travel statement.
The maximum penalty they each face is a fine of up to $ 1,150 and / or up to six months in prison.
Rodney Baker, who reportedly earned $ 10.6 million in 2019 as CEO of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, resigned on Sunday.
The company, which owns several casinos across Canada, has been embroiled in an investigation that has been investigating allegations of corruption and money laundering since last year.
The tycoon reportedly married Ekaterina, an actress of Russian descent.
The White River First Nation condemned the couple’s actions in a statement Saturday and called for the couple to face harsher sentences.
“We are deeply concerned about the actions of people who put our elderly and vulnerable people at risk for skipping the line for selfish purposes,” Chief Angela Demit said in a statement.
The community, he said, was selected to receive the vaccines “given our distance, the elderly and the high-risk population, as well as limited access to health care.”
“While we understand that many want to get a vaccine right away, it’s not appropriate to circumvent established rules and approach our community that way.”