Wachovia, B of A Nailed in Inside Job

The biggest bank security breach in U.S. history has grown even bigger, with the tally of illegally accessed New Jersey bank accounts reaching 676,000. Suspects in the insider fraud ring include bank employees at Wachovia, Bank of America, Commerce Bank, and PNC Bank, along with a former manager of the New Jersey Department of Labor. All 676,000 compromised accounts belonged to New Jersey residents who were customers at one of the four banks.

Nine people have been charged in the case so far, including seven former employees at the affected banks, who allegedly used their positions to gain access to the stolen data.

According to police investigators, the suspects — none of whom were information technology workers — created a database containing stolen information from the 676,000 accounts, using names and Social Security numbers obtained by the bank employees. The bank employees would normally conduct between 40 and 50 searches of customer bank accounts in the course of a normal day. While the scam was underway, that figure jumped as high as 500 searches per day.

After retrieving the account data, the bank employees allegedly either printed out screen shots containing the information or wrote it down by hand. The stolen information was then provided to DRL Associates, a supposed deadbeat-locator service and collection agency that had been created as a front for the scam. Police say the information was then sold to more than 40 law firms and collection agencies by the shell company.

Police have fingered Orazio Lembo, 35, as the leader of the identity theft operation. Police say that Lembo, who allegedly used his home as an office for the shell company, was the one who hired the bank employees to obtain bank data, including names, account numbers and balances. According to authorities, Lembo kept computerized records of all transactions — including payments made to the former bank insiders.

Lembo has been charged with one count of racketeering and eight counts of disclosing data from a database. Others charged in the case include:

• Anthony Diamanti, former employee at Commerce Bank and PNC Bank
• Kelvin Diaz, former employee at Bank of America
• James DiGangi, former employee at Commerce Bank and PNC Bank
• Myron Frierson, former financial specialist for Wachovia Bank
• Zoran Levajac, former manager at Commerce Bank and at PNC Bank
• Kathleen Lovelace, former assistant manager at Commerce Bank and former employee of PNC Bank
• Orlando Rivera, former manager at the New Jersey Department of Labor
• Maurice Williams II, former financial specialist for First Union Bank (subsequently Wachovia Bank)