ID thief gets probation

Former LBCC employee Shallan Tunupopo plead guilty to three years of probation at her preliminary hearing Monday, May 5 for felony charges, a Long Beach court official said Monday, May 12.Tunupopo was arrested April 17 for conspiring with Long Beach resident Maria A. Hernandez who allegedly had possession of 40 employees' personal information stolen from the district's computer system.

Hernandez was arrested April 16 and was released April 18. She received a warrant issue for her arrest May 8, but has not gone to court.

LBCC Police Lt. Julie Prior said, "Tunupopo was dismissed from her job at the Fiscal Operations and Payroll office.

Her assigned public defense attorney was not available to comment.

Deputy Director of Fiscal Operations and Payroll Patricia Davis said Tunupopo had been working at the office for more than a year.

Davis said about the stolen personal information: "Analysis is being done by internal auditors. We have no evidence that anything has occurred with the documents. We haven't heard that anyone's information has been misused."

Davis said that even though Tunupopo didn't directly handle transactions in the cashier's office, employees working in Fiscal Operation and Payroll office's front or back desks are given the title of cashier.

Student assistant Grace Cotangco, who works in the counseling office, said, "The computer system is not very safe. Most employees have access to students and employees' Social Security numbers. I don't think that should be readily available to employees."

Stacy Robinson, payroll and bursar in the Cashier Office, said about students' information: "We've already had safeguard set for the protection of student information."

Risk Services and the campus police collaborated on Identity Theft Prevention workshops May 9 at the LAC and May 13 at both campuses. Long Beach Police Sgt. Richard Farfan spoke about proven methods for protecting personal information. Farfan is the supervisor of the Identity Theft Detail unit at the Long Beach Police Department.

Executive director of public affairs and marketing Chi-Cheung Keung said,