No later than a week after the UCLA Medical Center was involved in a huge scandal about snooping the medical records of 32 celebrities or public persons, including California first lady, Maria Shriver, actress Farrah Fawcett and pop star Britney Spears, a notorious Manhattan hospital announced Friday that an employee may have stolen records containing the names, phone numbers, and, in some cases, Social Security numbers of as many as 40,000 patients.

The theft at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center was unveiled during a federal investigation and an internal audit, hospital representative, Myrna Manners said, according to the New York Times.

Hospital officials do not believe that any medical record was stolen and also there is no proof that the stolen information has been used so far.

“We’re taking this very seriously. We deeply regret that this has occurred,” Manners said.

The records involved patients treated in the past two years.

A representative for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said her office was investigating the case with the help of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the US Secret Service. She declined to further comment on the case. Investigators believe that the theft could be part of a larger criminal scheme, Manners said.

The hospital is currently working on contacting all the patients impacted by the identity theft. Also, hospital officials are setting up a hot line for people with questions and offering credit monitoring services for patients worried about possible financial crimes.

The identity of the employee involved in the theft has not been disclosed, as the case is still being investigated. The hospital has formed a task force to examine hospital procedures and prevent future data thefts.