Posted on 07/27/2002 6:26:34 AM PDT by Catspaw
Waukesha - On the heels of a case in which a Milwaukee County employee is under investigation in an identity theft ring, a temporary worker at the Waukesha County register of deeds office was charged Friday with stealing blank birth certificates.
The cases do not appear to be connected, investigators say, but the theft has Waukesha County officials looking at revising their policy to not perform criminal background checks for temporary and seasonal employees.
Had Waukesha County checked Thomas J. Dworak's background, they would have found he had two active warrants for his arrest in check-bouncing cases in two counties. And he was hired one month after he was released from prison, where he served time for felony theft.
"That's disturbing," said Norman Cummings, the county's director of administration.
When authorities searched Dworak's Woodstock, Ill., home this week, they found not only about 135 blank birth certificates but also printouts of Waukesha County government payroll records with county employees' names, home addresses and Social Security numbers, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Dorow said in court Friday.
One of the payroll printouts included information for one of the county's court commissioners, she said.
Also found in Dworak's home were a notary seal from the State of Illinois, two Illinois birth certificates, and letterhead and envelopes from the Waukesha County register of deeds office and human resources department, Dorow said.
Authorities have not found evidence that Dworak sold or used the documents to commit fraud or identity theft, said Waukesha County sheriff's Lt. Karen Ruff. But she said the investigation is continuing.
A federal indictment in Milwaukee this week shows how lucrative identity theft can be.
A theft ring with employees inside the state Division of Motor Vehicles and Milwaukee County register of deeds office is suspected of netting more than $200,000 in cash and jewelry over a 16-month period.
Identity theft has been the nation's No. 1 consumer fraud complaint in the last two years, the Federal Trade Commission says.
In the Waukesha case, no other county employees are believed to be involved, but detectives are looking at whether Dworak had accomplices outside the courthouse, Ruff said.
A criminal complaint charging Dworak with seven counts of misdemeanor theft as a habitual criminal says that:
Dworak talked to an unidentified man about selling the blank birth certificates for $300 to $500 a piece. That man tipped authorities to Dworak's scheme.
Dworak quit his job with the county July 12 but returned to the courthouse Wednesday to pick up his final paycheck and was arrested, Ruff said.
Dorow said in court that Dworak told investigators that "he was (expletive) off at the state of Wisconsin for (sending him) to prison for felony theft" in August 2000. He told detectives that he wanted to use the documents to change his own identity and get a passport, Dorow said.
State computerized court records show Dworak has used five aliases with four different birth dates in the past, often when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Dworak has been convicted of drunken driving at least six times in Wisconsin and two to four times in Illinois, Dorow said.
Dworak remained jailed Friday in lieu of $20,000 bail.
The register of deeds office hired Dworak on March 4 as a temporary employee who was assigned to help shred blank vital records forms for birth, death and marriage certificates, said Register of Deeds Michael Hasslinger.
The forms had been discontinued in 1994, when the county started using an imaging computer system to print all certificates. But the forms sat in the county's storage room until this spring, when a supervisor decided they finally should be shredded, Hasslinger said.
Dworak told investigators that when he saw the forms, "the criminal mind started thinking," the complaint states. He worked with another employee - a security measure enacted by the county - but stole the papers whenever that employee was in the restroom, according to the complaint.
James Richter, the county's human resources director, said the county conducts criminal background checks only on permanent full- and part-time employees. If a department asks for a check on a temporary or seasonal worker, it is done, he said.
No such request was made in Dworak's case, Richter said.
Richter and Cummings said they would review whether their policies needed to be changed.
Very scary stuff. He must've thought he hit the jackpot.
What's even more frightening is that Waukesha county didn't even bother to do a background check on him. Not only did the county leave itself open to this kind of theft, but it endangered the workers and exposed them to the nightmare of identity theft--and he had everything needed for someone--and not just the unsavory criminal element, but terrorists--to create a new identity and live in plain sight.
It's just chilling.
I wondered that myself, but if he was hired through the temp agency, I doubt if the county asked. AHe could've lived on Mars for all they cared. And I don't think it was the commute that was the bother for him--it was being allowed access to the blank birth certificates (he also had blank Illinois birth certificates and a notary seal). Once he was in place, all he had to do was wait for his chance. The money he could make selling the birth certificates, plus the IDs he'd stolen from the payroll department was worth far more than the few bucks an hour he was making. This was the jackpot.
Oh, thank you for doing this. Not only is identity theft a huge problem, but since 9/11, we've all become more aware of who can steal one's identity. I hope you also pass this article along to others in your position. It's very much a security issue, on all levels.
You may also want to contact the person in charge of hiring, especially if temps are hired. They, too, need a background check. This was such a security breach that my head was spinning when I found the story.
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