PHOENIX (AP) - The managers of Arizona’s pension system for police officers and other public-safety responders said Friday they informed members about a potential security breach that happened months ago.
Christa Severns, spokeswoman for the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, told The Arizona Republic (https://bit.ly/MmPMY3) that she could not say why officials didn’t say anything when they learned about the breach last fall.
“To avoid compromising an ongoing investigation, we cannot disclose information at this time,” Severns said.
In a letter to members, officials said Anton Orlich, a former employee, downloaded files prior to his June 7 departure that included the names, Social Security numbers and addresses of other members.
The trust filed a lawsuit against Orlich in October for his taking files without permission.
According to court documents, Orlich, a portfolio manager, says he didn’t know he also took personal information and never looked at it. Orlich was one of four high-profile employees who quit last year over allegations that senior management wasn’t properly reporting the values of real estate assets. Some employees said the reporting of higher values seemed to lead to staff bonuses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has been conducting a federal grand-jury investigation into the trust, which has denied the claims.
Orlich, who is cooperating with an FBI investigation, said he downloaded files he thought the pension system would move or delete. He has since turned the records over to a Maricopa County Superior Court judge, who returned them to pension system managers.
Lynn Adams, Orlich’s attorney, said trust managers have known about the breach since October and it’s suspicious that they are now telling members.
“It’s just another attempt to throw attention away from the FBI investigation,” Adams said.
The trust is offering its 52,000 members one year of identity-theft protection through the program LifeLock.
The pension system’s board oversees a $7.2 billion trust serving three pension plans for police officers and firefighters, elected officials and correctional officers.
All three plans are significantly underfunded, primarily because of investment losses during the Great Recession of 2007 and the dot-com bust in 2000-01.
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Information from: The Arizona Republic, https://www.azcentral.com
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