A Chinese national had access in 2007 to law enforcement, intelligence and drivers license databases, including the personal information of up to 5 million Arizona drivers, and the case's details have remained hidden until now, according to a new investigative piece from ProPublica and the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Lizhong Fan arrived in the U.S. in February 2007 with a contract to work within Arizona's Counter Terrorism Information Center. Five months later, the investigate news outlets report, Fan booked a flight and returned to China. The files from his stint at the agency went with him.
Fan had access to the state's driver's license database, arrest files from county jails and criminal history data.
Although he returned to China with two laptops and additional hard drives, the responsible agencies have yet to confirm the breach to the public.
