Police: Woman stole identity to get work (Gwinnett Daily Post)

Police: Woman stole identity to get work

Posted: 4:01 PM Apr 12, 2011
Reporter: By Josh Green, Staff Writer

BUFORD — A Woodstock woman who records indicate is an illegal immigrant has been charged with stealing a Buford woman’s identity to gain employment that lasted more than two years.

Neri Aguilar-Contreras, 55, worked at Woodstock Nursing and Rehab Center using the name Lisa Gibbs between September 2005 and November 2007, according to her arrest warrant.

In order to get the job, Aguilar-Contreras unlawfully used the maiden name and Social Security number of Gibbs, 47, who has since married and taken the name Lisa Bassett, according to Gwinnett police.

Aguilar-Contreras was arrested on two counts of felony identity fraud March 25, after she allegedly tried to use the Gibbs name and Social Security number on an application for a kitchen position with Hardees.

Bassett of Buford, first contacted Gwinnett police about the fraud in 2008, after she’d received a letter from the Internal Revenue Services inquiring about unpaid taxes. She soon learned through IRS records that someone used her information to be hired at the nursing home, a police report states.

Aguilar-Contreras’ arrest warrant indicates she landed the nursing home job through a temporary employment agency. Why her employment ended there wasn’t clear. An administrator at the nursing home did not return a phone call Tuesday afternoon.

Gwinnett County Jail records show Aguilar-Contreras, a native of Mexico, is being held for federal immigration authorities.

How Bassett’s identity was compromised and her relationship, if any, to Neri Aguilar-Contreras wasn’t mentioned in the police reports. Bassett declined comment Tuesday.

A man who identified himself as Bassett’s husband in a returned phone call to the Daily Post said he and his wife are unsure how her personal details were accessed.

Aguilar-Contreras is scheduled for a probable cause hearing Friday in Gwinnett Magistrate Court. She remains jailed without bond.