By Ms. Fargo, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 180) of Susan C. Fargo, James E. Timilty, David P.
Linsky, Scott P. Brown and other members of the general
court for legislation relative to the crime of identity
fraud. Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended in subsection (a), by inserting before the definition of “Harass” the following definition:- “Fictitious identification document”, a forged, counterfeited, falsely made, fraudulently procured or falsely obtained: (a) charge card, credit card, bank card, financial instrument or identification document, that is issued, or in a materially similar respect, has the physical appearance or operating features of being issued, by a bank or financial institution; or (b) license, permit, passport, birth certificate, social security card or other identification document, that is issued, or in a materially similar respect, has the physical appearance or operating features of being issued, by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity whether domestic, foreign or international.
SECTION 2. Said section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in subsection (a) within the definition of “Personal identifying information” by: (i) striking the words “an individual” and inserting in place thereof, the words “a person” and (ii) inserting after the words “password identification”, as appearing at the end of the subparagraph, the following words: “or tax identification number, or other bank or financial institution issued financial account number or distinctive password identification code”.
SECTION 3. Said section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in subsection (a), by inserting after the definition of
“Personal identifying information” the following definition:- “Person” includes an individual whether living or deceased; association, organization, trust, corporation, other business entity, or a lawfully authorized agent or representative thereof.
SECTION 4. Section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended as follows by inserting after subsection (c), the following subsections:-
(d) Whoever attempts to obtain or obtains from another person the personal identifying information of such person, by:
(i) false pretence; or
(ii) trick, scheme or artifice to intentionally deceive or mislead another
person in a material manner; or
(iii) willfully making a materially false, fictitious or deceptive statement
or communication whether by oral; written; electronic mail; Internet;
electronic signal, code or transmission; television radio or
wireless broadcast; or any other means; and
with the intent to:
(1) pose as such person in order to defraud any person, by fraudulently obtaining money, credit, goods, services or anything of value; or
(2) use the personal identifying information of such person to obtain, forge, or cause to be made, a fictitious identification document; or
(3) transfer or distribute the personal identifying information of such
person to any other person, and with the knowledge or intent that the personal identifying information will be used by such other person to engage in an activity described in this subparagraph or subparagraphs (d)(1) or (d)(2),
shall be guilty of the crime of identity fraud and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or in the house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
A person who knowingly aids or abets another person to commit or attempt to commit the offense of identity fraud prohibited by this subsection shall be guilty of, and shall be subject to the punishment for, identity fraud provided under this subsection.
(e) Whoever solicits, buys or otherwise intentionally obtains from any person a
fictitious identification document or the personal identifying information of
another person, and with the knowledge that such fictitious identification
document or personal identifying information was obtained in violation of
this section, and with the intent to use such fictitious identification document
or personal identifying information to:
(i) defraud any person, by fraudulently obtaining money, credit, goods, services or anything of value; or
(ii) obtain, forge, or cause to be made, a fictitious identification document; or
(iii) transfer or distribute such fictitious identification document or the personal identifying information to any other person, and with the knowledge or intent that such fictitious identification document or the personal identifying information will be used by such other person to engage in an activity described in this subparagraph or subparagraphs (e)(i) or (e)(ii),
shall be guilty of the crime of identity fraud and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or in the house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
A person who knowingly aids or abets another person to commit or attempt to commit the offense of identity fraud prohibited by this subsection shall be guilty of, and shall be subject to the punishment for, identity fraud provided under this subsection.
(f) Whoever knowingly offers to sell, sells or transfers for consideration a fictitious identification document to another person, and with the knowledge or having reason to know or with the intent that such fictitious identification document will be used to fraudulently or unlawfully obtain money, credit, goods, services or anything of value shall be guilty of the crime of identity fraud and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or in the house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
A person who knowingly aids or abets another person to commit or attempt to commit the offense of identity fraud prohibited by this subsection shall be guilty of, and shall be subject to the punishment for, identity fraud provided under this subsection.
(g) A prosecution under this section may be commenced and disposed of, in either the Superior Court or District Court. A prosecution in the Superior Court may be commenced in the county in which any conduct in violation of this section occurred in the commonwealth, or in the county where the victim or defendant resides, or has a principal place of business within the commonwealth. A prosecution commenced in the District Court may be commenced in the judicial district in which any conduct in violation of this section occurred within the commonwealth, or in the judicial district where the victim or defendant resides or has a principal place of business within the commonwealth.
SECTION 5. Said section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking the current subsection heading “(d)” and inserting a new subsection heading “(h)”.
SECTION 6. Said section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking the current subsection heading “(e)” and inserting a new subsection heading “(i)”.
SECTION 7. Said section 37E of chapter 266 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after current subsection (e), which heading is to be amended to subsection “(i)” by Section 6, the following subsection:-
(j) A law enforcement officer when acting within the scope of the officer’s lawful authority shall not be subject to the prohibitions of subsections (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f).
