The U.S. attorney’s office has announced the indictment of a former VA employee stung trying to sell personal information.
The release:
LITTLE ROCK—Cody Hiland, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Phillip Hill, 32, of Benton, a former Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) database manager, with attempting to sell the personal information of veterans and VA employees.
The indictment, returned by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Arkansas on January 9, 2018, and unsealed today, charges Hill with attempted trafficking of access devices (i.e., social security numbers), aggravated identity theft, and possession of device-making equipment. Hill was previously arrested on December 17, 2017, and charged via complaint on December 18, 2017. Today Hill appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Joe J. Volpe and was released on bond. Trial is set for March 5, 2018.
The investigation revealed that Hill offered to sell the personal data of veterans, their dependents, and VA employees for $100,000 to a confidential source working with law enforcement. Hill was terminated by the VA on December 6, 2017. After being fired from the VA, Hill said he could still access the information remotely with a VA computer in his possession, or by stealing a VA server. Hill was arrested outside a secure area at the VA that housed the data he was offering for sale. Law enforcement officers executing a search warrant found a VA computer in Hill’s home.