ID theft traced to dental office
Cops say assistant got credit cards with patients' info


Jacob Langston, Orlando Sentinel, August 10, 2007
The Adkins family was hit by identity theft. They are (from left) Frank Adkins; 9-month-old Cali; Austin, 8; Blake, 6; and Virginia


Rene Stutzman | Sentinel Staff Writer
August 10, 2007
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E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: Virginia Adkins was puzzled. One day $150 disappeared from her checking account.

A short time later, something else odd happened: Target sent her a letter, congratulating her on her new line of credit, but no one in her household had applied for a Target credit card.

Adkins, 32, an Oviedo mother of three, was the victim of identity theft.



Seminole County deputies on Thursday said they solved the mystery: Adkins and at least eight other people were victims of a 21-year-old dental office assistant, who combed through medical files and personal information.

Carolina Cruz of west Orange County was arrested by Seminole County deputies Wednesday, accused of grand theft, fraud and four counts of identity theft. She was released Wednesday night on $6,000 bail and was unavailable for comment.

The victims all were patients at Blandon Dental, which has offices in Oviedo and Waterford Lakes, sheriff's Lt. Dennis Lemma said. Cruz worked at both offices, he said.

Dentist Alvaro Blandon would not comment.

Adkins said she was shocked by what happened and stunned that authorities had tracked the thief to her dentist's office.

"I would never in a million years have suspected that," she said.

Three of the victims live in Seminole County, and six in Orange County, Lemma said.

Even so, Cruz was not under investigation by Orange County deputies, Orange County Deputy Sheriff Carlos Padilla said.

Cruz used patient information to obtain credit cards, then went shopping online, according to her arrest report. She is accused of stealing about $2,500 worth of merchandise, but Lemma said that number could climb once monthly credit-card bills were delivered to victims.

The suspect used Adkins' debit card to buy $150 worth of T-shirts online from a company in Great Britain, Adkins said.

According to Cruz's arrest report, she also bought patio furniture from Target, including an outdoor fireplace. She also used the identity of another Oviedo woman to buy $1,900 worth of electronics, authorities say.

A Seminole County deputy cracked the case by tracking a Target online order to the dental office's e-mail address, Lemma said. The merchandise, though, was delivered to Cruz's home address, he said.

Rene Stutzman can be reached at 407-324-7294 or rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com.

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