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IRS: Sons of Fla. Dept. of Health manager perpetrated security breach

ORLANDO, Fla. — A security breach at the Florida Department of Health may have put personal information at risk.

Two of the suspects at the center of the investigation are the sons of a top health department employee.

State officials first advised patients at central Florida Department of Health centers to check their credit reports for fraud Wednesday.

An Internal Revenue Service investigation uncovered the security breach.

Investigators say state workers stole the personal information of thousands of people.

The IRS cannot say if Ruby Williams, who worked at the department and is the mother of the two accused identity thieves, has been cleared of any wrong doing.

The Florida Department of Health says their internal investigation found no wrongdoing on her part.

Thousands of patients who go to the Florida Department of Health in Orange and Seminole counties are grappling with the news that accused identity thieves were stealing their personal information.

The mother of two people arrested in the large scam is a human resources manager for the Department of Health.

Dain Weister, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health, said Ruby Williams can be trusted in her current role.

"She was separated from investigation, not part of it, the information was kept secret from her so she wasn't involved in any way, not only to make sure she was not involved, but to protect her," Weister said.

Ruby Williams is the mother of Gerald Williams.

According to an indictment, investigators discovered that he took photos of a Department of Health database that contained Social Security numbers and birthdates.

All the information needed to file phony tax returns to cash in on illegal refund checks.

He then sent photos of the database to his brother who worked with a ring leader who filed the phony returns.

It all cost taxpayers a huge amount of money, according to the indictment, a figure that has still not been disclosed by the DOH.