Supreme Court:  Identity Theft Occurs When ID Use Is ‘At The Crux’ Of Criminal Act

Mealey's (June 8, 2023, 1:00 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Violation of the federal aggravated identity theft statute happens when the unauthorized use of another person’s means of identification “is at the crux of what makes the conduct” at issue criminal, a U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled June 8, reversing a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in the context of health care fraud and stressing that a broader interpretation of identity theft would transform “garden-variety overbilling” disputes that include the use of a patient’s identifying information into identity theft violations....