Thread: AZ-Owner begins sentence in sanctions case

Owner begins sentence in sanctions case
(March 13th, 2010 @ 3:27pm) Policy >> Comments:11

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced Saturday the owner of a Phoenix granite business has begun serving a six month jail sentence in an identity theft case.

Prosecutors say 48-year-old Raphael Libardi was arrested in July following a joint probe by the County Attorney and the Sheriff's Office.

Authorities say Libardi, a Brazilian national who is in the U.S. illegally, began using the Social Security number of an elderly man as far back as 2002 to establish his granite business.

The victim of the ID theft died in December 2008 and the man's daughter assisted in the investigation. Libardi pleaded guilty to two counts of identity theft last October.

Prosecutors say Libardi is the first business owner to be criminally prosecuted as a result of an employer sanctions investigation.

http://ktar.com/index.php?nid=6&sid=1273885

Wow ~ and the man's daughter assisted in the investigation.