Kentucky, April 7, 2024: A 38-year-old man, Jesse Kipf, has admitted to faking his own death to avoid paying over $100,000 in outstanding child support. Kipf created a fake death certificate in January 2023 and infiltrated other states’ death registry systems using stolen credentials.
Kipf’s motivation to commit these cybercrimes was fueled by his desire to avoid paying his outstanding child support obligations to his ex-wife. He also used the stolen credentials to gain access to private business, government, and corporate networks, aiming to sell the sensitive information he fraudulently obtained to other crooks online.
In January, Kipf was charged with computer fraud stemming from the data breaches of GuestTek Interactive Entertainment in February 2023 and Milestone Inc. in June 2023. The damage caused by Kipf for skipping out on his child support payments and gaining access to the networks exceeded more than $195,000.
As part of the plea deal, Kipf agreed to pay $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. He also agreed to forfeit his electronic devices and $16,218 in gold and silver coins.
Kipf pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and computer fraud in federal court on March 29. He now faces a maximum of five years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and a minimum of two years for computer fraud — both of which carry a fine of $250,000. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 12 in federal court in Frankfort, Kentucky.
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