A Kentucky man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison after pulling off a shocking scheme to fake his own death in order to avoid paying child support. Jesse Kipf, 39, hacked into a state database and created a false death certificate for himself, successfully registering as deceased in multiple government databases.
Kipf’s elaborate plan involved accessing the Hawaii Death Registry System and using stolen log-in details of real physicians to certify his own death. He admitted to carrying out similar attacks on other death registry systems and companies, even offering to sell access to the systems and selling stolen databases containing private information on the darknet.
The court heard that Kipf sold the stolen data to international buyers, including individuals from Algeria, Russia, and Ukraine. United States Attorney Carlton S. Shier, IV, condemned Kipf’s actions as a “cynical and destructive effort” driven by his desire to shirk his child support obligations.
In addition to his prison sentence, Kipf must serve 85 percent of his term and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. The damage caused by his hacking activities and failure to pay child support totaled nearly $200,000.
This bizarre and brazen case serves as a stark reminder of the lengths some individuals will go to in order to evade their responsibilities, and the serious consequences that can result from such actions.
