A former UAMS Medical Center police dispatcher used personal information from people listed in a statewide criminal database to open fraudulent bank accounts, Little Rock police reported.
Shakiylia Dennis, 22, of Little Rock, told police she used the information to open checking accounts in other people's names without permission, according to a court affidavit. She was charged Thursday with forgery and seven counts of financial identity fraud.
Dennis had been arrested March 4 after attempting to cash two forged checks at two Regions bank branches in Little Rock. She pleaded guilty to charges of forgery and identity fraud and was sentenced to six years of supervised probation, court records show. She was also fined $1,500.
After her arrest, Dennis told police that she had opened fraudulent accounts using personal information from numerous people listed in the Arkansas Crime Information Center, the affidavit said. She was unsure of how many.
Most information in the database, excluding crime statistics, is restricted to use by law enforcement agencies.
Between January 2013 and March 2014, she searched for one of the fraud victim's name three times in the database, according to the affidavit. Police reported that a 2010 lease agreement in that victim's name was recovered from Dennis' car after her arrest. The document contained banking information.
Dennis also told police that she opened accounts using information from items in the hospital's lost and found, according to the affidavit. One victim told police that she had misplaced personal information while visiting UAMS in December, police reported.
A Regions security officer identified seven accounts in the names of two victims that had been opened by Dennis between October and December, court documents show. A total of $1,446.76 was stolen.
Dennis began working as a police dispatcher at UAMS in November 2012. She was fired in March after her arrest.
Dennis is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21 to face her latest charges. She was not listed on the Pulaski County jail roster late Friday.
Metro on 08/16/2014