February 11, 2002

ESCONDIDO MAN GUILTY OF IDENTITY FRAUD, TAX CHARGES; STOLEN IDENTITIES CAME FROM ‘WHO’S WHO’ BOOK

 An Escondido man pleaded guilty today to federal identity theft and tax fraud charges for filing a series of bogus tax returns that used personal information he obtained from one of the books published by the Who’s Who company.
 James Harold Gaddy, 57, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler. Gaddy pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft and two counts of making false claims to the Internal Revenue Service.
 In a plea agreement filed in federal court in Los Angeles, Gaddy admitted that he copied personal information from the Who’s Who book, using information belonging to officers of major corporations to open bank accounts, to lease properties in Orange County, and to file false tax returns with the IRS.
 Gaddy copied the names, dates of birth, and address of 45 people from the Who’s Who book, and he used various ruses to obtain their social security numbers. With that information, Gaddy opened bank accounts and leased properties under the victims’ names to use as mail drops. Gaddy filed fraudulent tax returns with the IRS under the victims’ names that listed false information about income, deductions and credits. The tax returns claimed refunds that averaged $5,426 and were all filed in February 2001. Some of the fraudulent returns were electronically filed with the IRS, and the refunds were deposited directly into the created bank accounts.
 Gaddy is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Stotler on May 13. At sentencing, he faces a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in federal prison and fines of up to $1 million.
 Michael S. Kochmanski, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office of IRS-Criminal Investigation stated, “This case is an example of how a person like Gaddy can use a common publication like “Who’s Who” to obtain and use personal information for financial gain. However the excellent coordination between IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Secret Service and the Fullerton Police Department kept Gaddy from securing refund checks from the IRS and doing more harm to his victims and the government. This investigation highlights why it’s so important to safeguard your personal information".
 The case against Gaddy was investigated by the Los Angeles Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation, the United States Secret Service and the Fullerton Police Department.

 Release No. 02-031

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