An amazing ststory has emerged in Canada where 35-year-old Timothy Moisan faced 14 years in jail for operating “a massive operation designed to steal people’s identities, con into their bank accounts, and steal their money”:
In the end, there’s no explanation about how the man behind one of the biggest identity theft rings ever in B.C. got off serving only six months plus a day. Critics say sentences like this will only bolster a growing epidemic.
Just the fact that the accused was in possession of “stacks of passports, driver’s licenses, and credit cards” as well as “reams of stolen mail” might suggest a significant penalty. Instead, he pleaded guilty and walked free, while thousands of people spend money and time to recover their stolen identity information.
The judge gave him a year in jail. But because he had spent six months in custody awaiting trial — time which is weighed twice because it’s before trial — he had effectively finished the sentence before it began.
Will Canada soon become a haven for ID theft operations? I wonder if someone could pursue Moisan under PIPEDA by complaining to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and then take him to Federal Court of Canada under section 14. Alternatively, perhaps he could be charged for each identity under Section 264. (1) of the Criminal Code for harassment, since it covers stealing mail and electronic identity theft. Maybe he already was charged and the judge really did not see any harm from ID theft…the kind of harm documented in the criminal code.