Stockholm, Jan 21 (IANS): Police in Sweden have announced that tens of thousands of individuals were believed to have travelled abroad with bogus negative PCR Covid test certificates.

Around 35,000 individuals who are believed to have fallen victims to the alleged scam, involving a testing company that the authorities listed as legitimate, have now been contacted, reports Xinhua news agency.

Their email addresses were found during the investigation into Doktorgruppen, a company that allegedly issued negative test certificates without actually analyzing the tests.

The tests cost around 1,500 Swedish kronor ($164) each.

Doktorgruppen, which had several clinics in the Swedish capital, was listed as legitimate by the Swedish Public Health Agency and operated for more than six months before it was shut down when raided by police in mid-June last year.

Among the things the investigators want to know from the presumed victims of the scam is whether they developed Covid-19 symptoms shortly after taking the test, reported Expressen, a nationwide evening newspaper in Sweden.

"There are indications that individuals have received false negative test results from Doktorgruppen and that individuals who thought they had taken a test and were healthy instead may have been ill and travelled abroad at a time when the risk of infection was at its highest," the investigators said.

At least five individuals connected to the company have been arrested and are being investigated for spreading infection, fraud, false testimony, and endangerment of others.