Three Decades of Lies: Inside Former University of Iowa Employee’s Identity Theft Scandal

bOne of the scariest crimes in the world might just be identity theft.

According to reports, the top identity theft types in the Hawkeye State are; credit card fraud, bank fraud, employment or tax related fraud, and phones or utilities fraud.

There has been a total of approximately $9 million in fraud losses in Iowa.

One former University of Iowa employee is facing serious charges after a decades long scam.

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You think you know your co-workers? Think again!

William Woods had been working remotely as a systems architect for the information technology department at the University of Iowa’s hospital for a decade.

This man had been living in Milwaukee and was making more than $140,000 a year, according to reports.

Turns out…he wasn’t really William Woods. For three decades this man, who’s actual name is Matthew David Keirans had been living a lie as Woods.

The 58-year-old man was discovered after university officials kept hearing accusations by a man in California. He claimed that this employee had stolen his identity years ago.

So, police investigated the claims and the realization came to light.

Keirans pleaded guilty to federal charges of identity theft as well as lying to a credit union.

He will most likely be spending several years in prison.

 When Did This Start?

There is no record of Keirans using his own name or social security number after 1988, according to reports.

Court documents also state that he began going by the name of William Woods in 1990.

While living his life as William Woods, this man got married, had children, and even managed to illegally obtain Woods’ birth certificate through a genealogy website.

This guy played the long con…

What About the Real William Woods?

Well, this unlikely pair met in the 1980s, reports claim Keirans and Woods were both working at a hot dog cart in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

William Woods was living unhoused in Los Angeles when he began noticing something rather strange.

Someone was racking up debt in his name!

Woods brought his concern to a bank branch manager, but was accused of committing identity theft himself.

He spent approximately two years in prison, according to reports.

Court records even show that he continuously tried to prove that he was in fact William Woods, but was sent to a state mental hospital where he would be drugged.

However, the real Woods is finally getting the justice he deserves. Next week in California, a hearing will take place that should clear the man’s name.

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