Jesse Kipf: Kentucky father charged for faking death to evade over $100K in child support payments
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: A man has confessed to orchestrating his own death in a bid to evade paying his ex-wife over $100,000 in overdue child support, and now faces substantial prison time for the intricate scheme.
38-year-old Jesse Kipf pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of computer fraud in federal court on March 29, in accordance with the terms of the plea agreement.
As per a press release, Jesse Kipf came under investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office in November, following the efforts of investigators from the FBI in Louisville, Kentucky,
The Department of the Attorney General for Hawaii and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office uncovered his cybercrimes, according to the New York Post.
Jesse Kipf generated a fraudulent death certificate for himself
In January 2023, Kipf admitted to creating a fabricated Hawaii Death Certificate Worksheet, in which he produced a fraudulent death certificate for himself and falsely identified himself as the medical certifier for the case.
Prosecutors argued that his motive for committing these cyber crimes stemmed from his desire to evade his outstanding child support obligations to his ex-wife, according to the plea agreement.
According to the plea agreement, the father, who was still alive, proceeded to hack into the death registry systems of other states using stolen credentials.
Submitting a digital signature request on behalf of a physician, he supplied his name, title, and license number, resulting in his registration as deceased in numerous government databases. Nevertheless, his unlawful online activities persisted despite his faked death.
Jesse Kipf utilized the stolen credentials to infiltrate private businesses, government entities, and corporate networks, aiming to sell the acquired sensitive information to other criminals online.
"In doing so, the Defendant caused damage to multiple computer networks and stole the identities of numerous individuals," as stated in the plea agreement.
In January, Kipf was charged with computer fraud in connection to the data breaches of GuestTek Interactive Entertainment in February 2023 and Milestone Inc in June 2023.
What did the plea agreement claim?
Authorities estimated that the damages incurred by Kipf, both from evading his child support payments and gaining unauthorized access to the networks, exceeded $195,000, as indicated in court documents.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the father involved in computer hacking agreed to pay restitution, including $3,500 to the state of Hawaii, $56,247 to Milestone Inc, $19,653 to GuestTek Interactive Entertainment, and $116,357 to the California child support agency.
Additionally, he agreed to surrender his electronic devices and $16,218 worth of gold and silver coins.
Initially facing five counts of computer fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, which carried a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, Kipf accepted the plea deal, resulting in the dismissal of several charges.
Currently, Kipf is potentially facing up to five years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and a minimum of two years for computer fraud, in addition to a significant fine of $250,000, as stipulated in the plea agreement.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 12 in federal court in Frankfort, Kentucky.
