Politics on the Hudson

   An Albany-area man who used to work for the state Department of Taxation and Finance was arrested today on charges that he illegally posssessed sensitive personal data on thousands of New Yorkers and using some of the information in an elaborate identity-theft scheme. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his office collected evidence showing Healey had at least 90 allegedly fradulent credit cards  and other credit lines at more than 20 banks. Unpaid charges on the accounts were more than $200,000.

   Walter Healey, 63, of Oakwood Avenue in Troy allegedly took taxpayer identification information from the tax department and used it to apply for and obtain credit cards, according to a complaint filed by Cuomo’s office. He was arraigned this morning in Troy City Court and released on a $5,000 bond. The charges carry a maximum of six to 18 years in prison.

   As required by law, state tax officials are notifying more than 2,000 people across New York whose information was breached. Cuomo’s office is contacting victims who had a credit card account applied for or opened in their name and is working with credit bureaus to rectify situations in which credit was affected.

   Cuomo alleged that Healey opened accounts using the Social Security numbers of at least 15 different people, including a 4-year-old boy and at least four dead people (his mother and sister were among them). He worked in a unit that scans identification documents, including Social Security cards and birth certificates, submitted in connection with routine audits, Cuomo said, and he had access to various tax documents and returns. A fellow employee reported Healey.

   In a search of Healey’s home last fall, investigators found copies of more than 700 New York State tax forms; copies of more than 300 birth certificates and 1,000-plus Social Security cards; and hundreds of pages of credit card statements, inquiry letters, applications and cards in the name of Walter Healey and numerous other individuals.

   The state found about 2,000 Post-It notes in Healey’s home with the Social Security numbers of taxpayers written on them, and many of them were accompanied by notes that said things like “good prospect,” “had money” and “go with this one,” the Attorney General’s Office said.