A Kentucky man who prosecutors say hacked into state death registry systems to fake his own death – in part to avoid paying more than US$100,000 (RM436,416) in child support – was sentenced on Aug 19 to 81 months in federal prison, authorities said.
According to federal prosecutors, the man, Jesse Kipf, 39, of Somerset, Kentucky, hacked into the Hawaii Death Registry System in January 2023 with the username and password of a doctor living in another state to create and certify his own death certificate.
“This resulted in Kipf being registered as a deceased person in many government databases,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky said in a news release Tuesday. “Kipf admitted that he faked his own death, in part, to avoid his outstanding child support obligations.”
In an arrangement with prosecutors, Kipf pleaded guilty in April to one count of computer fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Under the deal, other charges against him were dropped.
Prosecutors, who cited Kipf’s criminal history, recommended a sentence of 84 months in prison, while his lawyer recommended 72 months. Both sides agreed that Kipf should pay US$195,758.65 (RM854,323.55) to cover child support he had failed to pay as well as damages related to government and corporate computer systems.
Kipf, who was born in Hawaii, was divorced in 2008 in California and owed more than US$116,000 (RM506,243) in child support obligations to his daughter and her mother, according to court documents.
“This case is a stark reminder of how damaging criminals with computers can be, and how critically important computer and online security is to us all,” Carlton S. Shier IV, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement. He called Kipf’s scheme “a cynical and destructive effort, based in part on the inexcusable goal of avoiding his child support obligations”.
Tommy Miceli, Kipf’s lawyer, said, “We respect the court’s decision.”
The case was investigated by the FBI in Louisville, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, the Department of the Attorney General in Hawaii and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office. It was not immediately clear how authorities had learned of Kipf’s scheme.
Investigators found searches including “California child support arrears father died” and “Remove California child support for deceased” on Kipf’s laptops, Kathryn M. Dieruf, an assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a sentencing memo.
Kipf obtained a Social Security number that had not yet been issued by the Social Security Administration to use after the government registered his death with his legitimate Social Security number, Dieruf said.
Kipf also hacked other states’ death registry systems, along with private business networks and governmental and corporate networks, using legitimate credentials stolen from real people and tried to sell the information on the dark web, the prosecutor’s office said.
In her sentencing memo, Dieruf said that Kipf had a “concerning” criminal history that “displays a classic recidivist profile”.
Kipf was convicted in Nebraska in September 2010 on charges including criminal possession of four or more financial transaction devices – which may include items such as credit cards or bank cards belonging to others – and sentenced to three to five years in prison, Dieruf said. He has charges pending against him in Pulaski County, Kentucky, in connection with the use of stolen credit card numbers to pay for food on delivery apps, such as DoorDash, she said.
According to Miceli, Kipf is a military veteran who served in the Iraq War from June 2007 to May 2008 and was “generally discharged under honorable conditions” in 2009. He has struggled with drug addiction that “led to an increase in reckless and criminal behaviour”, all of which occurred after his military service, he wrote. – The New York Times
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