United States v. Harrison

Veronica Harrison (defendant) worked for the New York City Human Resources Administration. Her job was to help locate child-support services for children and mothers on public assistance. As part of her job, Harrison had access to names, social-security numbers, and other identifying information for thousands of people. In 1999, Harrison was introduced to Lovelace Adusei Kontoh, who was involved in a conspiracy to obtain confidential identifying information about people without their knowledge or permission and then use that information to file fraudulent tax returns to collect refund checks. Kontoh and his conspirators defrauded the United States out of at least $7,000,000. Harrison began helping Kontoh. She met with him 25 to 30 times over the course of a few years to provide him with social-security numbers and other identifying information for at least 16,000 people. Kontoh paid her $50 to $60 for the information at each meeting. Harrison was arrested and, after waiving her Miranda rights, told police that she provided Kontoh with this information so he could use the identities to file fraudulent tax returns. Harrison was indicted for one count of identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7), and the court held a bench trial. Harrison stipulated to several facts prior to trial but argued that the government failed to show that she intended to aid or abet Kontoh, a necessary element of the crime.