A Veterans Affairs clerk was arrested last week for allegedly stealing private information from more than 1,000 veterans.
The personal information of more than 1,000 veterans was found during a traffic stop of the VA clerk at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, California.
“While performing routine patrols on the campus of the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center, VA law enforcement came across a personal vehicle with what appeared to be commercial license plates attached,” according to a Veterans Affairs news release. “After running the plates and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), officers determined the attached plates did not belong to the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop.”
Long Beach VA hospital clerk accused of stealing private information from more than 1,000 veterans https://t.co/pc4gXnLWmr pic.twitter.com/PeYYrW5Klh
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 15, 2018
While interviewing the driver of the vehicle, officers found an unlabeled pill container with various pills inside.
They conducted a search of the vehicle and found “gabapentin pills for which the driver had no prescription and private VA patient information on numerous veterans including names, dates of birth and full Social Security numbers.”
“After the initial arrest, VA law enforcement obtained a search warrant that ultimately yielded more than $1,031 in recovered federal property and an additional amount of private VA patient information being recovered,” according to the release. “In total, approximately 1,028 veterans’ information was found outside of VA control.”
The VA will send out letters to all the veterans impacted and provide them with 12 months of free credit monitoring services, authorities said.
