California tightens ID theft laws

SACRAMENTO
July 2, 2008 12:01am

Victims of identity theft may have a better opportunity to obtain justice under a new law in California that allows identity theft cases to be prosecuted in the county where the victim lives – which is not always the location of where the crime occurs.

“This common sense legislation will lead to more prosecutions of this terrible crime and anyone that commits or even thinks of committing identity theft should know that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in signing the bill.

Current law, SB 612 by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, allows for the prosecution of identity theft in the county where the theft occurred or the county in which information was illegally used, both of which may be hundreds of miles away from the victim’s home. The new law permits local county prosecutors to pursue a resident’s identity theft case even when the crime may have occurred somewhere else.