A federal grand jury in Maryland has indicted five Baltimore-area residents on fraud and aggravated identity theft charges in a scheme to use patient personal information stolen from Johns Hopkins Hospital to open credit card accounts and make more than $600,000 in “instant credit” buys at retail stores.
Indicted were: Michael Allen, age 34; Jasmine Amber Smith, 25; Tyrell Douglas McCormick, 22; Ayanna Devon Johnson, 38; and Gloria Canada, 54. The superseding indictment was returned on Sept. 15, 2010 and unsealed last week with the arrest of Canada, the final defendant.
Officials at Johns Hopkins Medicine said they do not comment on ongoing litigation and referred all inquires to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Baltimore.
According to the 39 count indictment, while employed by Johns Hopkins Hospital from August 2007 to March 2009, Smith allegedly improperly obtained the personal identity information of patients and the parents and guardians of minor patients, including names, social security numbers, dates of birth and addresses. Smith allegedly gave the stolen information to Johnson and Canada.
From May 2008 to June 2009, Allen and McCormick allegedly used the stolen information to apply for instant credit at stores make purchases on “instant credit” before the fraudulently obtained credit cards were received by the victims. The indictment alleges that the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $600,000 in credit from over 50 stores and individuals.
The defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two years in prison consecutive to any other sentence for aggravated identity theft. McCormick and Allen face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for bank fraud and 15 years in prison for access device fraud.
John Commins is the news editor for HealthLeaders.