WHAT A GUY

Washington State RN Steals Pal’s Identity After Losing Nursing License: Feds

The victim willingly handed over his personal details while thinking he was buying life insurance, say investigators.

A Washington State nurse whose license was revoked for fraud is under investigation for allegedly stealing another nurse’s identity so he could keep practicing, according to a complaint filed Friday in Seattle federal court. In 2013, Alieu Drammeh began working as the director of nursing services for a Seattle nursing home under a false name, the filing says. About six years later, Drammeh left a resignation letter on his boss’s desk, admitting that he wasn’t who he said he was. “The reason why I could not use my name is because of the disciplinary action taken against my nursing license,” the letter said. “I have tried many times and wasted substantial amount of money in legal fees to remove the hold on my license but it is still revoked.... Please share... my apologies for my misconduct of taking someone else’s identity to practice nursing.”

The victim whose identity was stolen attended the same community college as Drammeh and shared the same first name, the criminal complaint says. He had no idea what had happened until he was contacted by the IRS “informing him that he had underreported his income,” and referenced a nursing home where he had never worked. In an interview with investigators, the victim, who is identified in court papers as “A.K.,” explained that Drammeh “was working as a life insurance salesperson in approximately 2009, and that they met around this time to discuss A.K.’s potential purchase of life insurance. During their meeting, A.K. provided Drammeh with his SSN and Washington state driver’s license number in order to purchase the insurance. Drammeh never followed up with A.K. regarding his intended purchase, and A.K. did not think much of their meeting until he learned of the identity theft.”

Drammeh did not have an attorney listed in court records.