MAN ALLEGEDLY FAKES HIS OWN DEATH AND HACKS GOVERNMENT NETWORK TO AVOID PAYING CHILD SUPPORT
A Kentucky man named Jesse E. Kipf has pled guilty to allegedly faking his death and illegally hacking several governmental and corporate networks. He entered a guilty plea for one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud, as per the documents accessed by PEOPLE. The man has admitted that he committed the offense of identity theft in order to avoid paying child support to his ex-wife. He added that he hacked networks as part of his attempt to sell access to various government sites in exchange for money. As Kipf faces seven years in prison for his crimes, he may also need to pay up to $500,000 in fines. The man is set to appear in court on the 12th of April, as per NBC News.
In the plea agreement, Kipf confessed that he broke into the Hawaii Death Registry System in January 2023 by using the credentials of a doctor who lives in another state. Even though he has no connection to the doctor, but managed to catch hold of his name, title, and license number, simply to pull off the identity theft and enter his name in the system. The reason behind acquiring the doctor's credentials was to portray himself as the medical certifier so that his death could look real. This way every query regarding his 'death' would be directed to his own contact number, helping him stay a step ahead of the authorities.
Kipf was able to declare himself 'dead' in many government databases using his technical expertise, by entering the system of other states through "credentials he stole from other real people,” as per the agreement. His objective behind committing these crimes was to avoid the arrears he had accumulated by not paying child support to his wife which amounted to $116,000. After altering his personal data he identified an opportunity for further profit and started looking for buyers online, who would be interested in accessing government and corporate networks. The prosecution accused him of illegally entering sites of private businesses like GuestTek Interactive Entertainment Ltd. and Milestone Inc.
In addition to the child support he is supposed to pay to his wife, Kipf now owes $80,000 to the networks which he broke into for his personal gains. Prior to pleading guilty, he was indicted by the grand jury in November 2023 on five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release. His initial charges carried a prison sentence of 30 years, which he negotiated through the plea agreement. He has agreed to pay his dues to all the parties affected by his crimes.