Hacker fakes death to avoid paying $100k child support
A COMPUTER hacker faked his own death to avoid paying over $100,000 in outstanding child support to his ex-wife, according to court documents.
Jesse E Kipf, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud at a Kentucky court on March 29.
According to his plea agreement, Kipf accessed the Hawaii death registry system in January 2023 using the details of a doctor living in another state and created paperwork for own death.
He “assigned himself as the medical certifier for the case and certified that case”. The deception led to Kipf, who is from Somerset, Kentucky, being listed as dead in many government databases.
“The defendant also infiltrated other states’ death registry systems using credentials he stole from other real people,” the plea agreement said. “The defendant faked his own death, in part, in order to avoid his outstanding child support obligations to his ex-wife.”
Kipf admitted to hacking into private business, governmental and corporate networks with information he stole from others and attempting to sell the access to buyers online, according to the court document seen by NBC News.
He was initially charged with five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release from Kentucky prosecutors in November 2023.
Kipf was accused of illegally accessing state websites for Arizona, Hawaii and Vermont, as well as two technology firms that supply leading hotel chains, Guesttek Interactive Entertainment Ltd and Milestone Inc.
Prosecutors said Kipf ’s crimes led to more than $195,000 in estimated damages, including more than $116,000 in losses suffered by his ex-wife.
He has agreed to pay restitution, according to the plea agreement.
The initial charges carried a prison sentence of more than 30 years. After agreeing a plea deal, Kipf faces a maximum of seven years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 12.