Power corrupts.
Former ICE top lawyer raided US govt database to steal aliens' identities
Yet again an insider has been caught misusing a workplace computer system to conduct identity theft and fraud. Unusually, the perp was, at the time, serving as the head lawyer for the US government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) at the time. And rather than turning to the …
COMMENTS
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Friday 16th February 2018 07:39 GMT Richard Jones 1
@Doctor Syntax
This was not a back door job, this was a cart and horses through the front door, back door and every window job using 'good' old fashioned fraud and timings manipulation. In a single way he was a great example, in the end he got one thing right and became an honest lawyer - by pleading guilty to his criminal behaviour.
In the end it was another great example of the quality of Government recruitment and vetting.
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Friday 16th February 2018 20:26 GMT Alan Brown
Re: @Doctor Syntax
"In the end he got one thing right and became an honest lawyer - by pleading guilty to his criminal behaviour."
This is the USA we're talking about. It was plea-bargained and negotiated _down_ to 7 counts of ID theft from whatever they could have reasonably stomped all over him with in court, plus whatever else they were threatening to throw and see what stuck.
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Friday 16th February 2018 00:08 GMT Anonymous Coward
Given the level of trust given to him and expected of him due to his position he should spend the rest of his expected working life in jail, until 65; be stripped of all assets, which should be used to pay back those he stole from; and never be allowed to practice law anywhere or hold a Professional certification.
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Friday 16th February 2018 06:35 GMT Neil Barnes
That seems harsh. Just hang him upside down at the low tide line for a couple of days...
Seriously - identity theft penalties don't seem to be high enough anywhere. I'm not usually an advocate of long jail sentences, but this kind of thing doesn't seem to be sufficiently punished. Perhaps a recommendation for four years could turn into eight or ten?
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Friday 16th February 2018 11:21 GMT Anonymous Coward
What a stupid idea
Long jail sentences for a crime like this costs a lot and puts pressure on sentences for other crimes to become longer because "why did this armed robber get only 10 years when this identity thief got 20?"
I'd rather sentence people like him to public service. Let the government pay (the much lower cost) for modest accommodations, food, etc. instead of housing him in jail, and let him choose - subject to the court's approval - a charity to volunteer at for a decade. If he stops showing up for 'work' or otherwise screws up, then sure put him in jail. Maybe he can do some good to make up for his crimes instead. Maybe in some cases the charity can start 'paying' him a salary (which would go to the government to pay for his living expenses)
He's not doing anyone any good sitting in jail, but volunteering at the ASPCA or homeless shelter or VA hospital or something he could be. This would make sense for a lot of non violent crimes, but provide a perfect example of why corporate run prisons are a terrible idea. They grease the legislators, who make sentences longer to keep the jails full, and insure more prisons are needed. No wonder we have the highest incarceration rate in the world here in the US! Let's fill the prisons with rapists and murderers, not identity thieves.
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Friday 16th February 2018 11:30 GMT Sabot
Re: What a stupid idea
Let him loose on veterans or the homeless? Surely he wouldn't prey on them. Do not forget he did not "just" steal identities, he stole money, and caused real damage to his victims. They could not afford food, a decent lawyer, a home or whatever. That sounds violent enough to me.
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Friday 16th February 2018 13:37 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: What a stupid idea
He wouldn't prey on them because he'd know he was being watched carefully due to his probationary status, and the disincentive for doing it anyway would be a stint in prison with the aforementioned rapists and murderers.
If one becomes overly concerned with "what if they reoffend" why not give every criminal a life sentence? (nevermind that more than a few have run successful financial scams from inside prison...) And if you're going to hand out life sentences, you may as well hand out death sentences, to be absolutely sure they don't reoffend. That's what Ellen Ripley would do.
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This post has been deleted by its author
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Friday 16th February 2018 00:21 GMT Jamesit
"Raphael Sanchez betrayed that solemn responsibility and abused his official position to prey upon aliens for his own personal gain," said Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan in a statement, adding that we should not let one bad actor mar the work of ICE – which generally involves rounding up undocumented aliens and booting them from the US.
ICE is already doing a great job of that. Including young girls after surgery, defendants after a trial and DACA recipients showing up at their immigration meetings.
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Friday 16th February 2018 01:49 GMT Anonymous Coward
Ok, but 'why' though?
Sounds like classic Fraudster / IDentity-Theft. But why would an insider / lawyer do this or take on the risk. What's the motivation behind all of this?
Presumably they were comfortably well off at some point. So what happened? Bad bet on the markets / gambling debts. Doesn't add up!
What it does confirm of course is: Juicy ID databases in the hands of government or their contractors with a 'trust us' sticker, is worth fuck all!
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Friday 16th February 2018 04:02 GMT Mephistro
Re: Ok, but 'why' though?
"Why you ask could be the
greedysociopaths can never have enough!"Here, fixed!
Seriously now, if a lawyer with such an important station starts stealing from the poor and destitute, he deserves to spend those four years hanging from a wall in his cell, head down!
Ditto about those billionaires that do similar things in a more legal-ish way, but with the same ethical subtext. Conscience? Yeah, they have heard of it!
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Friday 16th February 2018 04:32 GMT a_yank_lurker
Fox in the Hen House
This highlights a problem for all. If a sociopath thinks they can abuse the system because of their position they will try. Just hope you are in the target area. More damage is done by insiders than by hackers.
Also, how was he caught? It sounds like his money laundering techniques were amateurish enough that a fraud detection system/person got suspicious. I wonder if the transaction patterns looked different from that of a true retailer. Something that he might not have considered as he might not have ever worked in retail.
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Friday 16th February 2018 18:12 GMT hellwig
"The Government" is composed of regular people.
"The Government" wonders why we don't want them snooping around in our private details, installing backdoors, monitoring everything we do.
While the concept of a moral, benign "government" might seem nice, it's pure fantasy. The Government, at all levels, is staffed by normal a-holes like anything else. Even if you think a top-level official is above reproach (HAH!), the actual work gets done by underpaid morons. Think about every individual you have to give personal information to (clerks at just about any government office). It's not even just the government, think about medical professionals. When was the last time an MD asked for your personal information (potentially including social security number)? It was probably some untrained clerk working the reception desk.
Trust no one, and you'll never be surprised.