KENSINGTON — An auxiliary deputy inspector with the NYPD 70th precinct hacked into police computers and networks and then tried to use the stolen information to make money as a bogus lawyer, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan Federal Court on March 12.
Yehuda Katz, 45, surreptitiously installed multiple electronic devices inside the precinct’s Traffic Safety Office, and remotely controlled them to access sensitive law enforcement databases, prosecutors charged.
One of the electronic devices installed contained a small hidden camera that captured a live image of the Traffic Safety Office and was capable of live streaming that image over the Internet, according to the complaint.
The other device, housed in a plastic box and connected to one of the computers in the Traffic Safety Office, allowed Katz to remotely control the computer’s keyboard, mouse and to view information displayed on the computer’s screen, the complaint read.
Investigators found that Katz used a Samsung cellphone to control the on-off switch option of this device.
Between May and August 2014, Katz ran more than 6,400 queries in databases containing information about traffic accidents — including one that is maintained by the FBI, according to NYPD's Internal Bureau Affairs and the FBI, which worked together on the case.
Katz, who did not have authorized access to these data, used uniformed police officers usernames and passwords to get into the databases.
The auxiliary deputy inspector then sent out letters to the traffic accident victims posing as a lawyer offering his help, prosecutors charged.
“I can advise you with 100% confidence that I can resolve this claim in your favor” the letters read, “If I wasn’t sure for 100% that I can win your case I wouldn’t bother writing you this letter. My fee is 14% only when you collect. And I know you will collect.“
Phone records showed that about 65 people who had been involved in traffic accident and who were in the 70th Precinct database contacted Katz, court documents read.
Katz has worked as a volunteer Deputy Inspector since 1997, a spokeswoman for the NYPD said. As an auxiliary officer, he received a stipend of $250 for 144 hours of volunteer service a year, but following the federal investigation is suspended and his termination is pending, the spokeswoman said.
Katz was arrested on Tuesday morning and is facing up to 10 years in prison. An attorney for Katz did not immediately answer a request for comment.
