Minn. police connect safes stored in evidence room to stolen data of 3M student borrowers

Stolen loan data found in police evidence room

MINNEAPOLIS — Investigators say the personal data of about 3 million borrowers stolen last month from a federal student loans company was recovered soon after the theft — but was only recently discovered in a Minnesota police evidence room.

Two safes containing the data on DVDs were stolen March 20 or March 21 from Educational Credit Management Corp.

Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force investigators said Friday that police recovered the safes March 22 and stored them in the evidence room. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety only recently connected the safes with the theft. Authorities say the data doesn’t appear to have been compromised.

State investigators have identified one suspect in the theft, who’s in custody on an unrelated matter.

(This version CORRECTS clarify that the information was stored on DVDs.)