A woman accused of participating in an identity theft scheme targeting New York City emergency room patients has pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. says Krystle Steed stole from more than 80 sick people and took over a bank account just hours after a patient died. He says she bought merchandise worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Prosecutors say Steed got the patients' names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers from her husband, who worked at the Lenox Hill Hospital. The husband was fired and was convicted of attempted grand larceny.
Prosecutors say the hospital moved quickly to shut down the scheme and worked with authorities. They remind all consumers to monitor their account statements for signs of fraud.
