“He is a hard working, honest man,” said Bob Walters, the lawyer of the man charged with stealing the information of 40,000 hospital patients.
A former employee of a Manhattan hospital was the person charged Saturday with stealing and selling about 40,000 patients’ personal information.
Dwight McPherson, 38, of Brooklyn allegedly stole the information while working for the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center at East 68th Street and York Avenue.
McPherson was arrested Friday night, and reportedly confessed to a role in the identity-theft scheme when he was interrogated by agents.
According to hospital officials, McPherson was allegedly after patients’ names, phone numbers and social security numbers. He was not after private medical information. Prosecutors said he exploited his access to the hospital’s computer registration system to acquire lists of patient names, phone numbers and social security numbers over a two-year period.
The records involved patients treated in the past five to six years.
A hospital spokeswoman told NY1 that NY Presbyterian does not know of any patients who have become victims of fraud.
According to CBS2, authorities became aware that something was amiss when printouts of patient records were discovered in Atlanta, Ga. during an investigation by U.S. postal inspectors, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors Saturday.
McPherson told agents that in 2006, he was approached by someone and offered money in exchange for the names, addresses and other identifying information of male patients born between 1950 and 1970.
The complaint said McPherson sold one batch of 1,000 records sometime this past December or January for $750. A second batch a short time later earned him $600, the agents said.
(Source: WCBSTV / NY1)
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The spokeswoman’s words are not exactly comforting. As the Gemorah says ‘Lo raeenu lo raiyah,” If I was the judge I would give this crumb 50 years without parole. Unfortunately, he probably won’t get more than two years.