Ex-Hospital Employee Charged with Stealing Patient IDs

She reportedly used the information to buy cell phones and set up utility services

A former employee of the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, has been charged with stealing the identities of 22 people, including nine patients, to buy cellphones and utility services.

Authorities say 54-year-old Katherine Benitez, of Webster, has been freed on $250 bail after pleading not guilty to charges including multiple counts of identity fraud, conspiracy, forgery and larceny.

Police say they have issued warrants for Benitez's daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend, for their alleged involvement.

The Telegram & Gazette reports the alleged scheme was discovered when a man said he was receiving an electric bill from an apartment where he'd had never lived. The cellphone number on the application was Benitez's.

She was fired in May after the hospital said she had accessed the files of 2,400 patients.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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