Jewish service agency employee suspended for stealing IDs

(JTA) — An employee of the Jewish Community Services of South Florida was suspended without pay after being charged with selling the identity information of Holocaust survivors.

The suspension of Crystal Thorne, 23, was suspended pending the outcome of a police investigation, according to a statement by Fred Stock, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Services agency.

Thome is accused of selling personal information about clients of the agency’s Holocaust Survivors Assistance Program, the Miami Herald reported. Thorne, who worked at the agency’s North Miami office, is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 5. 

Stock in his statement said that he was "shocked" to learn of Thorne’s arrest. He said that Thorne, who was employed by the agency for the last three years, had passed required background checks.

"JCS is cooperating fully with the United States Attorney’s office and local police," Stock said. "JCS professional staff has an extremely close relationship with its Holocaust survivor population and has already begun notifying potentially affected clients and family members of this possible breach. JCS will work with them to put measures in place to further protect their personal information."

Thorne was arrested after offering to sell the information — including names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers — to a police informant, who claimed that he intended to use them for a tax refund scam. They had agreed on a price of $1,000 for the 30 identities, according to the newspaper. Thorne had previously given the informant samples of five identities, according to the informant, the newspaper reported.

During her arrest, Thorne signed a statement saying that she had stolen the information from her employer, according to the newspaper.