Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: fraud

Good Afternoon:

California has numerous laws prohibiting the use of identifying information (ex: social security cards). Some of these laws can be found under Penal Code sections 530.5-530.8.

These laws prohibit the "use" of identifying information in an unlawful manner. In other words, simply possessing the cards by themselves is not illegal. What is illegal is if someone possesses the cards and then uses it to defraud or for some other unlawful purpose. In other words, there must be a specific intent to defraud or misuse the information.

This is not to say that you can just tell a police officer or other government agent that you never intended to defraud or misuse the information. The government may simply infer that you intended to use the information in an unlawful manner by your possession alone. The strength of their case would then depend on all the specific facts of your case.

I understand this may seem confusing or complicated. If you would like to discuss this area of law in more detail, please feel free to contact me at http://www.SolomonChang.com. I would be happy to discuss your situation in more detail.

Best regards,

Solomon Chang