Former Aetna employee sent to prison for stealing 50 customer identities

A former employee at Aetna's Plantation, Fla.-based office will serve 32 months in prison, three years of supervised release and pay $16,264 in restitution for comprising the identities of 50 customers, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

Quinzella J. Romer pled guilty to one count of possessing 15 or more social security numbers and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She was a short-term disability benefit manager for Aetna from June 2007 to August 2013.

Coral Springs Police Department officers found Ms. Romer had a warrant for her arrest during a traffic stop. Authorities conducted a pat down and discovered Ms. Romer had a Florida driver's license under another person's name and a cellphone. After receiving a search warrant, authorities looked through Ms. Romer's cellphone and found more than 20 screenshots showing over 50 names, social security numbers and birth dates of Aetna customers. It was determined the screenshots were taken from her work station at Aetna.

Twelve of the names and social security numbers in the screenshots were linked to tax-related theft for the 2013 tax year. Related tax returns claimed refunds of $38,196, and the IRS paid $16,264.

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