Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon's Department of Justice is looking for a former state worker who's accused of theft. April Baer reports.

Naudaan Surachaii Hurh worked in the state's Medicare Eligibility unit in Beaverton for over five years. He left in 2008.

This year, the state charged him with eighteen crimes.

Prosecutors say he stole about $15,000. And he's facing six counts of identity theft, but the state says the stolen cash was state money and that Medicare clients and their data were never at risk. 

The indictment may point to a kind of fraud scheme, but for now, Attorney General John Kroger isn't providing more details.

Hurh is still at large, and a Kroger spokesman says the state wants the public's help looking for him. Authorities believe he may still be in the Portland metro area.

Patty Wentz with the Department of Human Services says steps have been taken to prevent this kind of theft from happening again, but didn't elaborate.