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Harsher penalties for stealing identity of active-duty service members sought

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News

Published: April 18, 2014

State Reps. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea, and Terry Blair, R-Dayton, are campaigning for the passage of a bill crafted to protect the state’s active-duty service members from identity theft.

The proposed legislation, House Bill 471, would amend the theft, secure writings by deception and identity fraud statutes to enhance the criminal penalty for identity theft crimes against active-duty military members and their spouses.

Under current Ohio law, the felony enhancement is reserved for identity theft victims who are disabled or age 65 or older.

The bill also would create a private right of action for all victims of identity fraud, not just active-duty service members.

“Nationally, we have seen a disturbing increase in the number of service members reporting identity theft,” Dovilla said in recent sponsor testimony for HB 471 before the House Judiciary committee.

“As one of the members of this chamber who has served our nation overseas, I can personally attest to the challenges our military personnel face when it comes to getting one’s finances and other important personal matters in order prior to deployment.”

Once deployed, particularly in active war zones, Dovilla said mail delivery can be “quite a luxury” at times and added that it can be months before a service member realizes their identity has been compromised.

“And despite our increasingly networked world, accessing the Internet to review bank accounts and credit card statements may be quite a challenge in a forward area or on a ship at sea due to a number of factors, such as limited computer access, low bandwidth and other challenges,” he said.

According to a bill summary, HB 471 would raise the level of the offenses of identity fraud, theft and securing writings by deception one degree if the victim is an active-duty member of the armed forces or the spouse of an active-duty member.

The bill calls for the consolidation of criminal theft or identity fraud cases involving a victim who is an active-duty service member or spouse of an active-duty service member when the offender commits the offense in the offender’s same employment, capacity or relationship to another.

If enacted, the measure would permit the consolidation of criminal theft or identity fraud cases involving a victim who is an active-duty service member or spouse pursuant to a scheme or course of conduct.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who has endorsed HB 471, noted in a statement that in 2013, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 22,000 identity fraud complaints from members of the military.

Last year, military identity fraud complaints rose 20 percent in Ohio.

“Military service members protect our country day in and day out, and it’s unforgivable that anyone would commit such crimes against these brave men and women and their spouses,” DeWine said.

“Identity fraud against the military is increasing in our state. This newly introduced bill would give Ohio one of the toughest laws in the country with respect to punishing felons who commit identity fraud against our active-duty service members.”

In addition to the provisions crafted for identity theft against active-duty military personnel, HB 471 expressly provides for a civil cause of action based on most types of criminal identity fraud and for injunctive relief in such a case.

The bill requires that a civil action based on most types of identity fraud be brought within five years from the date on which the identity of the offender was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.

“This will allow victims to pursue lawsuits against offenders,” Dovilla said. “All victims will be able to potentially recover up to $5,000 for each violation found by the court, or three times the amount of actual damages, whichever is greater. More importantly, this will provide an opportunity for victims to obtain a journal entry formally finding them to be the victim of identity fraud. This entry could then be presented to creditors to assist in clearing the victim’s credit history in a more expeditious manner.”

HB 471 is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Louis Terhar, John Adams, Wes Retherford, Terry Johnson and Cheryl Grossman.

The bill has not been scheduled for additional hearings.

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