It’s reasonable to think that if teenagers get involved in after-school activities such as sports, clubs or a part-time job, they’ll be more likely to stay out of trouble. An article published by the South Florida Business Journal explains how two teenagers stayed pretty busy, but got into trouble over running a successful identity fraud ring that involved more than 600 victims.
The story states that an investigation was opened up after a woman complained that an unemployment compensation claim had been filed on her behalf without her knowledge or permission. The unemployment benefits were tracked back to an IP address associated to a Miami residence where two teenage brothers resided.
When a search warrant was executed, personal identification information including drivers’ license numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers for more than 250 people was discovered. (Court records state that agents also found debit cards and unemployment insurance debit cards at the residence.)
The two brothers were found guilty on identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud charges. The now 20-year-old and 19-year-old brothers will serve nine years and 12 years, respectively, in prison for their crimes. They also were ordered to pay $815,700 in restitution.
These two former teens were sentenced as adults for their crimes and now will be faced with a ton of time on their hands. (At least they will be supervised while behind bars.) Let’s hope that these young adults will figure out a better way to keep busy after they get out of jail.
Source: Today’s ”Fraud of the Day” is based on an article titled, ”Miami Brothers Sentenced for identity Theft and Unemployment Insurance Fraud,” written by Nina Lincoff and published by South Florida Business Journal on January 9, 2015.
Miami brothers Stanley Fertil and Steven Fertil were sentenced to more than nine and 12 years in prison, respectively, after being found guilty on charges of identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud.
Stanley, 20, and Steven, 19, were also ordered to pay $815,700 in restitution. The Fertils’ sentence was entered into the court records Thursday.
