HRA Secretary Arrested For Identity Theft

By ARI PAUL

An Executive Secretary at the Human Resources Administration illegally used another person's identity to obtain four credit cards, the Department of Investigation has alleged.

DOI announced the arrest of Alma Sykes, whom it accused of using the unidentified individual's Social Security Number to open the credit card accounts, which Ms. Sykes had been using since 1994. The total balance on these accounts exceeded $2,000, the department said.

Ms. Sykes was charged with four counts each of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Identity Theft in the First Degree, both of which are felonies. She faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

"The criminal conduct charged against this city employee not only resulted in the theft of the victim's identity but also caused her serious problems with her credit," DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement.