Medical Assistant Charged With Stealing Patient Information And Defrauding Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency

A medical assistant was indicted on charges of defrauding the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) and stealing patients’ Personal Identifying Information (PII) from a doctor’s office in Pontiac, Michigan, announced United States Attorney Matthew Schneider.

Schneider was joined in the announcement by Douglas J. Zloto, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Detroit Field Office.

Indicted was Aline Harris, 34, of Detroit, Michigan.  The indictment charges wire fraud, wrongful disclosure of health information, and identity theft in relation to unemployment benefits fraud and unauthorized disclosure of patients’ PII. 

According to the indictment, Harris, who worked for a doctor’s office in Pontiac, Michigan was fraudulently printing out patients’ profiles which contained PII and giving the information to others who used them to commit other federal crimes.  She also lied to the Michigan UIA and collected over $33,000 in unemployment benefits she was not entitled to.

Harris was arrested today and appeared in court the Eastern District of Michigan for arraignment on the indictment.  She was released on a personal bond.

The case was investigated by the Southeast Michigan Financial Crimes Task Force led by the United States Secret Service.  West Bloomfield, Warren, and Royal Oak Police Departments, Michigan Attorney General’s Office, and the IRS.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abed Hammoud with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.