Breast Cancer Patients Targeted for Identity Theft

Bay City News Service —   Two women were charged Friday with felony identity theft after Santa Clara police found mail stolen from breast cancer patients in their possession, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Salina Soriano, 37, of San Jose, and Regina Kennedy, 36, whose address is unknown, were arraigned on the charges last Friday in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, according to Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng.

Investigators say the duo were found to have mail from about 15 victims, all born the same year, from cities including Santa Cruz and Alameda. The victims were breast cancer patients at Sutter Health Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, according to Deng.

Investigators tracked down 15 of the women and most confirmed they had been victims of identity theft, Deng said. Some of the stolen mail has been returned to the victims, Deng said. The U.S. Postal Service is also investigating the case and contacting victims.

Both defendants are being held in county jail on $165,000 bail, Deng said. Santa Clara police arrested Soriano and Kennedy on Nov. 5 after responding to a report that the pair had checked into the Avatar Hotel on Great America Parkway with a fraudulent credit card, according to Deng.

Inside their hotel room, officers recovered the stolen mail, along with ledgers and notebooks listing the personal information of more than 100 individuals, Deng said. 

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