A California man has been sentenced to three years in prison for using his position as a hospital clerk to steal confidential patient information. The information was then used to fraudulently apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits.
The man, identified as Matthew Lombardo, 54, began obtaining the confidential patient information in August 2020. He then sent the information to an unnamed co-defendant, who used it to fraudulently apply for PUA benefits through the California unemployment system.
The court cited text messages that showed Lombardo and his accomplices targeting vulnerable victims. In one message, Lombardo asked how many names they needed after someone had just died. The Justice Department stated that the deceased were not suitable for the scam, and Lombardo’s co-conspirator responded by asking for someone who was still alive but on their way out, preferably 55 years old or younger.
The Justice Department did not specify how much money the conspirators were able to steal.
Lombardo was terminated from his position at the S.H. Scripps Health System in April 2021. In the fall of 2022, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, using confidential health information for personal gain, and aggravated identity theft.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Randy Grossman, stated, “During a national healthcare emergency, Mr. Lombardo stole the identities of hospital patients to defraud the government of funds intended for people in crisis. This office and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to pursuing such frauds and will hold the perpetrators accountable.”
