PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Randolph Hurst, 50, of West Warwick R.I., a former Assistant District Manager for the Social Security Administration in Rhode Island, has been convicted of a series of financial crimes.
Hurst, who pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, mail fraud, and tax charges, admitted to stealing the identity of a Coventry man and using the victim’s identity to fraudulently sell more than $160,000 worth of stock certificates belonging to the victim.
Affidavits show that Hurst opened a joint account at Summit Brokerage Services in Providence in his name and the name of the victim, without the victim’s permission. He then provided documentation to Summit purportedly authored and signed by the victim, requesting the deposit of two stock certificates owned by the victim.
Hurst also admitted to requesting that Summit sell the stocks and issue a check in his name and in the victim’s name for $157,747.49, which represented a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the stocks. He then deposited the check into a bank account owned jointly by Hurst and his wife.
Hurst faces up to 45 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1.4 million dollars when he is sentenced on January 10, 2014. His co-defendant, Justin Silveira, 29, of Coventry, pled guilty to two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice and faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $750,000.
The guilty pleas were announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston field office of the FBI, and other federal authorities.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan, and was investigated by federal agents from the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General/Office of Investigations.
Related Federal Cases
- Trader Joe’s Thief Bances Chaponan Admits Identity Theft · Virginia
- NY AG James Pushes for ICE Identity Bill · Washington
- Belkis Guzman Sentenced for Tax Fraud, ID Theft Scheme · Rhode Island
- Raymond Gallison Pleads Guilty to Fraud, ID Theft · Rhode Island
- Angel L. Morales Arrested in $500K ID Theft Ring · Pennsylvania
Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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