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Press Release

Indianapolis woman posing as a registered nurse sentenced

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana
Stole the identity of others to hide her criminal history and obtained fraudulent nursing license

Indianapolis – United States Attorney Josh Minkler today announced the sentence of an Indianapolis woman for making false statements regarding health care matters and aggravated identity theft.  Holly M. Whyde, 45, was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.

 “Nursing licenses must be earned, they cannot be stolen,” said Minkler. “Managing the health care of patients requires medicals skills that Ms. Whyde did not have.  Although no patient was injured as a result of her crime, I hope this serves as a warning to others who might try to bypass the licensing process.”    

Since November 2012, Whyde stole the license number of a legitimate registered nurse (RN) and masqueraded as an RN at nursing homes.  She used the stolen license number and in some cases, the stolen identity and social security number to apply for nursing positions at four different nursing homes.  In the course of carrying out her deception, Whyde lied not only to the nursing homes but also to the State Professional Licensing Agency.

Whyde lied about not having an RN license and repeatedly lied about her identity.  Her criminal history included convictions for check deception and fraud on a financial institution. Both would likely have kept her from obtaining a position in a nursing home managing volumes of personal identifying information.  

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Columbus (IN) Police Department.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Cho, who prosecuted this case for the government, Whyde must serve one year of supervised release following her sentence.

Updated July 1, 2016