Employee convicted of stealing, selling patient info
A former employee of a Louisiana health system was convicted of accessing personal identifying information of individuals and selling information to file fraudulent tax returns.
Ta'sha Thomas pled guilty to gaining access to patient information in the Ascension Parish Health Unit's database and selling it to Mona Hill, who used the information to file fraudulent federal tax returns. Hill paid Thomas between $8,000 and $9,000 for the stolen information.
Additionally, Hill received more than $400,000 from the fraudulent returns. She has been separately prosecuted and convicted.
"The IRS will aggressively pursue individuals who are involved in stolen identity refund fraud," said Jerome McDuffie, special agent-in-charge of the IRS criminal investigation. "This case should serve as a strong warning to those who are considering similar conduct. Law enforcement will relentlessly pursue those who steal the identities of unsuspecting individuals."
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.