@derryb said:
do not forget he had to open US Mint accounts in other people's names including credit card info. Isn't this identity theft? Paying the credit card bill only removes the theft aspect.
If he used prepaid debit cards that you can buy and preload at various locations, and used factitious names would it still be identity theft?
@derryb said:
do not forget he had to open US Mint accounts in other people's names including credit card info. Isn't this identity theft? Paying the credit card bill only removes the theft aspect.
If he used prepaid debit cards that you can buy and preload at various locations, and used factitious names would it still be identity theft?
He still used other people's identity to open the numerous Mint accounts. Wonder if all these purchases went to the same address? If so, that's what flagged him.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
The third side of the coin world is skirting the edge, it appears. So there’s one way to make the market move.... cheat the system with creative financing. Give that guy a job in government.
The IRS is currently focusing a lot of resources on identity theft, my guess is they included these charges in the plea deal so the IRS can take credit for shutting down a ID theft scheme, but without more facts we can't know. The real crime is Tax Evasion. Sounds like Dominick willfully and with intent failed to pay income tax on 400K, this is federal tax fraud, it is against the law and people go to jail for it. Very few of these cases make it to this point, so my guess is that evidence against him must have been strong. Willfully failing to report income is always a crime and one of the easiest cases for the Government to win, it is almost impossible to defend against.
@au58 said:
As for arguing that "There is no such thing as a victimless crime" because prosecuting the criminal "is a burden on both the legal system and the prison system, and thus the taxpayer", I call "BS". Not because the burden on the taxpayer is not real, but because the burden was created by the lawmakers, not by the criminal.
Imagine that. If there were no laws, there would be no crime.
There's a novel concept.
But that's obviously not what I said. Using an example from the Wikipedia link provided above by logger7, hitchhiking is a good example of what I would call a victimless crime. Yes, if prosecuted, the crime could create costs for taxpayers, but I would not consider the taxpayer a victim of the crime. Disagree if you like, but don't put words in my mouth.
Anyway, we digress. Nobody is arguing that tax evasion is a victimless crime. And we don't know enough about the rest of the case to know whom, if anyone, was actually victimized. (I do understand that most cases of identity theft have victims. But as I've explained above, I suspect that this is not a typical case.)
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
@derryb said:
do not forget he had to open US Mint accounts in other people's names including credit card info. Isn't this identity theft? Paying the credit card bill only removes the theft aspect.
What if the "other people" don't actually exist, or if they're dead, or if they're dogs? If the bills are paid, the only "victims" would be the other buyers who got to buy fewer coins than they might otherwise have bought.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
@derryb said:
dead or alive, paid or unpaid, opening an account in someone else's name amounts to identity theft.
Perhaps. That's for the law to decide. But I was only addressing the point that "identity theft" can be victimless. I have no more to add than that, so I'm done.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
It doesn't make sense to not include self-employment income in tax filings; lots and lots of deductions can go in there, and loss carryovers can be substantial with major thefts, etc.. Evasion is usually over a certain percentage, but if you don't include the self-employment income at all a lot of deductions go out the window when they charge people.
Comments
If he used prepaid debit cards that you can buy and preload at various locations, and used factitious names would it still be identity theft?
He still used other people's identity to open the numerous Mint accounts. Wonder if all these purchases went to the same address? If so, that's what flagged him.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
The third side of the coin world is skirting the edge, it appears. So there’s one way to make the market move.... cheat the system with creative financing. Give that guy a job in government.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
The IRS is currently focusing a lot of resources on identity theft, my guess is they included these charges in the plea deal so the IRS can take credit for shutting down a ID theft scheme, but without more facts we can't know. The real crime is Tax Evasion. Sounds like Dominick willfully and with intent failed to pay income tax on 400K, this is federal tax fraud, it is against the law and people go to jail for it. Very few of these cases make it to this point, so my guess is that evidence against him must have been strong. Willfully failing to report income is always a crime and one of the easiest cases for the Government to win, it is almost impossible to defend against.
@au58 said:
As for arguing that "There is no such thing as a victimless crime" because prosecuting the criminal "is a burden on both the legal system and the prison system, and thus the taxpayer", I call "BS". Not because the burden on the taxpayer is not real, but because the burden was created by the lawmakers, not by the criminal.
Imagine that. If there were no laws, there would be no crime.
There's a novel concept.
But that's obviously not what I said. Using an example from the Wikipedia link provided above by logger7, hitchhiking is a good example of what I would call a victimless crime. Yes, if prosecuted, the crime could create costs for taxpayers, but I would not consider the taxpayer a victim of the crime. Disagree if you like, but don't put words in my mouth.
Anyway, we digress. Nobody is arguing that tax evasion is a victimless crime. And we don't know enough about the rest of the case to know whom, if anyone, was actually victimized. (I do understand that most cases of identity theft have victims. But as I've explained above, I suspect that this is not a typical case.)
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
What if the "other people" don't actually exist, or if they're dead, or if they're dogs? If the bills are paid, the only "victims" would be the other buyers who got to buy fewer coins than they might otherwise have bought.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
dead or alive, paid or unpaid, opening an account in someone else's name amounts to identity theft.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Perhaps. That's for the law to decide. But I was only addressing the point that "identity theft" can be victimless. I have no more to add than that, so I'm done.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
It doesn't make sense to not include self-employment income in tax filings; lots and lots of deductions can go in there, and loss carryovers can be substantial with major thefts, etc.. Evasion is usually over a certain percentage, but if you don't include the self-employment income at all a lot of deductions go out the window when they charge people.