Kentucky man's death hoax for child support lands him in prison
An American from Kentucky faked his own death to avoid paying child support. He will spend the next few years in prison.
25 August 2024 15:24
Deadbeats is a colloquial, derogatory term for people who dodge contributing to the maintenance of their own children. They employ various tricks to avoid this, from getting paid "under the table" to not showing income or showing it minimally to simply ignoring their child support obligations. Some flee the country. An American from Kentucky took it to unprecedented lengths. The man had no intention of paying his children a penny, so... he faked his own death.
Jesse Kipf executed one of the most absurd hacking attacks in the USA, and maybe even in the world. The man owed his ex-wife $100,000 (approximately €90,000). However, he had no intention of contributing to the upkeep of their children. Instead, he registered himself as deceased, hacked into death registry systems, and sold access to them (along with sensitive data of others) on the darknet. The man was caught and charged with computer fraud and identity theft.
He faked his own death. He has to pay a gigantic sum
39-year-old Jesse Kipf impersonated a doctor at the beginning of 2023 and filed a false statement of his own death. He entered the data into the state government's deceased registry in Hawaii - all to avoid financial responsibility and paying his ex-wife €90,000 in child support. "Kipf then completed a State of Hawaii Death Certificate Worksheet, assigned himself as the medical certifier for the case and certified his death, using the digital signature of the doctor. This resulted in Kipf being registered as a deceased person in many government databases. Kipf admitted that he faked his own death, in part, to avoid his outstanding child support obligations," explained prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Somerset, Kentucky.
Jesse Kipf was eventually caught - he faced seven years in prison. District Judge Robert Wier ultimately sentenced the man to six years and eight months in jail. According to Kentucky law, Kipf must serve 85% of his sentence, after which he may receive parole. At that point, he will be on probation for three years.
Kipf's debts were estimated at $196,000 (about €175,000), for unpaid child support and damages caused to government and corporate computer systems.
"This scheme was a cynical and destructive effort, based in part on the inexcusable goal of avoiding his child support obligations," said the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky in a statement.
