California Expands Identity Theft Prosecution
Share this pageCalifornia has passed a law that makes it easier to prosecute identity thieves.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 612 into law this week. It allows prosecutors to charge people with identity theft in the jurisdictions where the victims live. Without the bill, prosecutions could only take place where the crime occurred, which is usually in the perpetrators’ towns or cities.
“That may make sense if it’s in an old-fashioned property crime like a burglary, or even an auto theft,” said Sen. Joe Simitian, a Palo Alto Democrat who sponsored the bill. “If an identity thief in Los Angeles goes online and steals the identity of a half dozen people in San Jose, the crime [had] to be prosecuted in L.A. That makes no sense at all, and, of course, it makes prosecution altogether unlikely.”
Full story on Information Week website