Former Hospital Employee Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud, Identity Theft
TAMPA, Fla. — A former employee at University Community Hospital (UCH) has pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), wire fraud, theft of government funds and one count of aggravated identity theft.
On Jan. 17, 2012, Tanya Cullens, a member of the hospital’s cleaning staff, stole a patient list from the facility. The list contained the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of 48 patients who had been treated at UCH. Cullens gave that list to a friend, who used the list to file 10 fraudulent tax returns with the IRS, totaling $79,204 in bogus tax returns, according to an FBI news release.
Cullens faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison for the tax fraud conspiracy and a consecutive two-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge.
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