Shocked WNYC employees were reeling yesterday after the allegation that one of their “kind-hearted” janitors sold personal financial information about nearly 200 station donors to a statewide identity-theft ring – but neighbors of the custodian were less surprised.
Kenyel Dotts, 21, of The Bronx, was arrested July 15 at the station’s Municipal Building office by State Police and the city Department of Investigation.
The well-liked custodian was fired the next day and charged with grand larceny and conspiracy for selling the credit-card and checking-account information of 198 donors. He faces up to 15 years in prison.
“You wouldn’t expect it from him. He’s not street-smart,” said a woman who works in the WNYC membership department. “He was our baby. Everybody loves him.”
At Dotts’ Findlay Avenue address in the Claremont neighborhood, the building superintendent said Dotts mostly kept to himself, but remembered seeing boxes from Tiffany & Co. and Gateway computers shipped to the apartment on a regular basis.
Two weeks ago, authorities arrested two men in connection with an identity-theft ring in The Bronx, in which the suspects allegedly stole people’s financial data and made Internet purchases from Sony and Gateway.
David Campbell, 47, of Norwalk, Conn., Ronald A. Darden, 27, of The Bronx, and Dotts are part of a statewide ring, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said after the arrests.
Dotts was released without bail at his arraignment and is due back in court Wednesday in the upstate town of Colonie, in Albany County.
Dotts’ uncle, Steven Bell, said he’s worried about his nephew, whom he called a “great kid.”
“I don’t know what happened. I didn’t even think he had the smarts to do something like that,” Bell said.
Calls from concerned donors poured in throughout the day to New York’s National Public Radio affiliate, but most remained calm and wanted to hear their donations were safe.
“I thought it was going to be a frenzy, with people panicking and screaming on the phone,” said one female employee, who fielded several calls. “I’ve been assuring everyone their money is safe.”
WNYC president Laura Walker addressed listeners early yesterday morning, telling the public, “To our knowledge, while records were stolen, none of the information has been used . . . We take the utmost care with the confidentiality of our donors.”
Additional reporting byLaura Italiano, PhilipMessing and AngelinaCappiello