Hospital worker stole identities of dying California patients in COVID scam, feds say

A hospital employee is accused of sharing patient identities with scammers who then fraudulently tried to obtain their COVID-19 unemployment benefits, according to court documents unsealed this week.

Matthew Lombardo worked at the Scripps Health hospital in San Diego as a patient service representative where he obtained and verified patient information, including health insurance, name, age, date of birth and employment, the federal complaint stated.

The 52-year-old San Diego resident is accused of scheming with three other people beginning in August 2020 with the agreement he would get a cut of the stolen unemployment benefits, the documents said.

“Mr. Lombardo was a patient services specialist employed by Scripps Health on an as-needed basis from May 13, 2019, to April 14, 2021. He was terminated on April 14, 2021, for cause,” according to a statement Scripps Health provided to McClatchy News. “Scripps takes its responsibility for protecting patient privacy very seriously and is cooperating with the government investigation.”

Konrad Piekos, 43; Ryan Genetti, 38; and Dobrila “BeBe” Milosavljevic — all from Vista, California, were also involved in the case, documents said.

The group targeted deceased patients but preferred someone “55 or younger who is on their way out,” Piekos texted to Lombardo, in messages obtained by officials.

“I believe that Piekos’ instructions to Lombardo to provide PII (personal identifying information) from persons who were alive but gravely ill reflect Piekos’ awareness that a deceased person’s PII is quickly entered into a database that makes them ineligible for PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance),” court documents said.

“This guy died a few hours ago. How many names do we need? I’ll check for more just got here” according to text messages from Lombardo to Piekos.

It’s unclear if the group successfully received money from the patient identities, but they did submit unemployment applications.

From August to October, Lombardo provided the three others with dozens of identities, documents stated.

But the scheme ended with a traffic stop.

At the end of October, a deputy from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department pulled over Piekos for driving a car without a license plate, the documents stated.

Deputies said they saw an “unregistered assault rifle” in “plain view ‘‘ in his car and immediately conducted a search where they recovered around $40,000 in cash, more firearms and loaded magazines.

After obtaining a warrant, deputies searched two of Piekos’ properties and cellphone. They pieced together the scheme and arrested all four individuals.

The group was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Lombardo, Piekos and Genetti face aggravated identity theft charges as well. And Lombardo was also charged with unauthorized disclosure of health information.

“Pandemic unemployment insurance programs are a critical part of our safety net designed to support hard working citizens who are suffering during an unprecedented economic downturn. Our office and our law enforcement partners will investigate and prosecute individuals who attempt to steal from these programs designed to assist deserving recipients,” Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a news release.

The investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 9:36 AM with the headline "Hospital worker stole identities of dying California patients in COVID scam, feds say."