Guillermo Contreras reports:
A San Antonio man pleaded guilty this week to possessing numerous medical files stolen from an area doctor, while a local woman was indicted separately for using stolen identifying information in a bank fraud scam.
Douglas Allen Ewert, 28, entered the guilty plea Tuesday to fraud related to stolen identification documents after a Secret Service investigation linked him to the theft of at least 100 medical records from a surgeon, Dr. Moises M. Soulas Jr.
The records contained 34 Social Security numbers, 19 driver’s license numbers and numerous dates of birth.
A sting caught Ewert selling the files for $250 in June 2010, and he intended that the stolen information be used to open fraudulent bank accounts, his plea deal states. None of the files made it into criminal circulation.Soulas’ office manager said Wednesday that the files were at least seven years old and were at the doctor’s home, disassembled for shredding, when they were stolen from his garage.
It’s unknown to me whether Dr. Soulas reported this incident to HHS under HITECH, as the number of patients involved would place this on the non-public list of breach reports.
Read more on MySanAntonio.com.