Federal prosecutors have convicted a former employee of Ascension Parish Health Unit in Louisiana for accessing personal identifying information of individuals and selling the information to file fraudulent tax returns.
Ta'sha Thomas pled guilty to gaining access to patient information in the health unit's database, taking the information and selling it to another person, Mona Hill, who used the information to file fraudulent federal tax returns. Ms. Hill paid Ms. Thomas between $8,000 and $9,000 for the stolen information.
Additionally, Ms. 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."
The investigation is ongoing.
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