BOSTON – A Dominican national unlawfully residing in Dorchester, Mass. pleaded guilty on Sept. 2, 2026 in federal court in Boston to healthcare benefit fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Manuel Antonio Baez, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of falsely representing a Social Security number, one count of making false statements relating to health care matters and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for Dec. 2, 2026. In May 2026, Baez was arrested and charged and has been held in custody since his arrest.
Baez used the stolen identity of a U.S. citizen, including the citizen’s Social Security number, to obtain government benefits. Specifically, Baez represented that he was a U.S. citizen when applying for healthcare benefits in Massachusetts and submitted a sworn affidavit falsely alleging the same. Baez ultimately…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.