Two Philly VA employees face federal charges of identity fraud

A nurse and a respiratory therapist at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center are awaiting trial next month for allegedly conspiring to commit identity fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The charges against respiratory therapist George Oyakhire - who allegedly assumed the false identity of Oliver Oyakhire to obtain a valid social security number - and registered nurse Leatha O. Taylor do not involve their work at the VA hospital, according to their lawyers and a government official.

In an indictment on Oct. 6, the government charged that Oyakhire created a false identity using the first name Oliver in 1984 when he entered the U.S. from Nigeria. He became a lawful permanent resident in 1990 and six years later a naturalized citizen under the name Oliver Oyakhire.

The indictment further alleges that in June 2007, Oyakhire sought to change the social security number on his transcript at New Jersey City University and that Taylor, posing as an employee of the Social Security Administration, signed a letter to the school to further that effort.

Oyakhire's base salary as a respiratory therapist was $70,447 in 2009, according to government records.

"He has been an employee of the VA for over 12 year and, as far as I know, has no blemishes on his record there," said Oyakhire's lawyer Jonathan J. Sobel. "Hopefully, once these charges and the criminal case is resolved, he will be able to return to work there."

Taylor's lawyer, Randolph L. Goldman, said, "we are contesting that she is involved. We deny that she tried to defraud the government."

Both Oyakhire and Taylor pleaded not guilty. A tentative trial date has been set for November 19.