Identity Theft Fears At HUD

JULY 10--A Department of Housing and Urban Development employee suspected of bank fraud and identity theft had access to 'sensitive information' at the agency, including material stored on the Blackberrys and computers of Secretary Alphonso Jackson and other agency brass, as well as separate 'personal client information housed on HUD computers.' Following the June 26 arrest of Tracyee Martan for passing a phony cashier's check at a Maryland bank, federal agents secured her HUD office 'in order to prevent any further access by Martan to sensitive information,' according to a search warrant affidavit (a copy of which you'll find below). Court filings do not indicate whether Martan is suspected of misusing confidential HUD information, or the nature of the 'personal client information' housed on the federal agency's computer system. Martan, a two-year HUD employee, worked as an assistant to Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Studdert at HUD's 7th Street headquarters. In post-arrest statements to police and Secret Service agents, Martan--who has used a series of aliases and has a larceny conviction on her rap sheet--made 'several admissions about the fraud she was involved with,' adding that she 'conducted some of the activities in her office at HUD.' During an examination of Martan's office, a federal investigator noticed a variety 'handwritten notes, passwords, and telephone numbers' which were unrelated to her governmental duties. A search of Martan's Washington, D.C. apartment turned up 'numerous boxes of consumer goods' that 'are believed to be the fruits of a credit card, bank fraud, identity theft scheme,' the affidavit notes. (5 pages)