There’s a follow-up to a breach previously noted on this site.
Paulette Shorter and Lakisha Grimes have been sentenced to federal prison for stealing personal identifying information from fellow employees of The Home Depot, Inc. in order to submit fraudulent applications for credit cards.
According to United States Attorney Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: Paulette Shorter and Lakisha Grimes worked as Human Resources employees in the Atlanta, Georgia headquarters of the Home Depot, Inc., where they had access to employee databases containing employee names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates. The defendants used personal identifying information stolen from the Home Depot employee database and other sources to apply online for Capital One credit cards in the names of different individuals, including Home Depot employees and job applicants. Home Depot Corporate Security discovered the fraudulent scheme based on a tip from a Home Depot employee and reported the identity theft to federal investigators.
In total, thirty-two fraudulent Capital One credit card applications were submitted as part of the scheme using stolen personal identifying information, and two of the approved credit cards were mailed to Shorter’s and Grimes’s residences. Two of Shorter’s relatives used a credit card issued in the fraudulent scheme to purchase merchandise at several outlet stores.
Paulette Shorter, 32, of Orlando, Florida was sentenced on November 4, 2015, by United States District Court Judge Steve C. Jones to two years and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and she was ordered to pay $166.90 in restitution to Capital One. Shorter was convicted on this charge on July 30, 2015, after she pleaded guilty.
Lakisha Grimes, 38, of Conyers, Georgia was sentenced on January 16, 2015, by United States District Court Judge Steve C. Jones to two years in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release. Shorter was convicted on this charge on November 3, 2014, after she pleaded guilty.
SOURCE: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia