Tangela Lawson-Brown, a former nurse in a Tallahassee nursing home from October 2011 to December 2012, was convicted of possession of unauthorized access devices, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of government funds by a court in Tallahassee. She stole the personal information of 26 patients while she was working in the nursing home. She was also found to possess a notebook that has the personal information of 150 persons.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida issued a press release confirming the arrest of Lawson-Brown’s husband on January 2013. Many items were confiscated from his vehicle including the notebook. Police investigation in 2011 uncovered the illegal actions of Lawson-Brown. She used the stolen credentials of 105 persons to file fraudulent tax returns. Over $1 million was the amount of filed claims but only $141,790 in tax refunds were issued by the IRS. The other claims were detected as fraudulent by the IRS. Lawson-Brown used multiple bank accounts to get access to the deposited refunds. She used the money for personal expenses, mortgage and car repairs.
Lawson-Brown’s sentence will begin on January 4, 2018. She’s facing a maximum jail term of 20 years for each count of wire fraud, 10 years for each count of theft and 2 more years for aggravated identity theft. The U.S Attorney for the Northern District of Florida warns relatives and caregivers of elderly and disabled persons to stay alert regarding unauthorized tax returns, financial transactions bank accounts. Suspicious transactions and identity theft crimes should be reported immediately to law enforcement agencies