Macon Woman Pleads Guilty to Stealing Plasma Donors’ Personal Information

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Macon woman has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing hundreds of blood plasma donors’ personal information and filing false tax claims, then pocketing the money.

30-year-old Bridgette Williams of Nisbet Drive worked at the BioMat USA Plasma Center on First Street in Macon. U.S. Attorney Michael Moore is charging her with one count of conspiracy and one count of identity theft, after he says she took the personal information of 130 patients and gave them to a co-conspirator in exchange for $400 at the beginning of 2012.

The indictment also says in March of that year, Williams entered a file room at the plasma center with a camera and took photos of patient information, including names, birthdays, and social security numbers. She then gave the camera to the same co-conspirator, who remains unnamed in the indictment.

It also says she let other conspirators use her address of 5317 Nisbet Drive in Macon to be used as the receiving address for false tax returns.

On June 9, she gave one of her co-conspirators a debit card to her Robins Federal bank account and told him to deposit a stolen U.S. Treasury Check.

41NBC spoke with several plasma donors at the BioMat Center in Macon, who were shocked at the news.

“It does scare me a little bit–as long as they can come up with a stricter control of personal information, then that would definitely help,” says donor Sam Adams.

Managers there declined to comment on camera, but we received this statement from Christopher Healy, Vice President of Public Affairs with Grifols BioMat USA:

“When we were contacted by law enforcement about possible wrongdoing and potential identity theft at the Macon donor center we immediately turned over our records and cooperated fully with the investigation.  Based on our most recent contact with law enforcement in November 2012, we understand that the investigation is ongoing.  Consequently, we cannot comment on any specifics regarding the case.  Nonetheless, Biomat USA takes it commitment to donors seriously and stands ready to ensure safety and security of our donors and their personal information.”

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