City News Service reports:
Sheriff’s detectives investigating an identity theft case involving a Valencia laboratory publicized the crime Wednesday in the hope of finding other victims and suspects.
All of the victims identified so far had done business with Specialty Laboratories at 27027 Tourney Road, according to Sgt. Darren Harris of the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley Station.
Molly Fontenot, 29, of Palmdale, who worked at the lab, was arrested Thursday on a felony charge of obtaining credit information with the intent of using it fraudulently, he said.
The investigation started in January when a woman in Camarillo told Ventura County authorities that her debit card was being used illegally for Internet purchases, Harris said. At least one transaction originated in Palmdale.
Detectives raided the place on Friday and determined that at least three people were involved in crimes related to identity theft, he said.
Anyone who may have been victimized or knows more about the case was urged to call Detective Layne Arnold at 661-272-2469 or Sgt. Jim Anderson at 661-799-5136.
Specialty, a division of Quest Diagnostics, is a HIPAA-covered entity. It’s not clear from the news report, above, whether those individuals whose information was stolen were patients whose lab specimens had been sent to Specialty or non-patients who had other dealings with Specialty.