[2301.HC] Legislator Committee vs. PodracingFan/Bowzin

High Court
14
HIGH COURT OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
[2301.HC] Legislator Committee v. PodracingFan/Bowzin

Charge
Identity Fraud

Summary of the Ruling
It is the finding of the Court that it is more likely than not that PodracingFan/Bowzin did indeed attempt to deceive the South Pacific by obscuring their identity; therefore, on the charge of identity fraud the Court finds PodracingFan/Bowzin guilty.

Chief Justice Kringle delivered the ruling, signed also by Justice Belschaft.

The Court finds it more likely than not that PodracingFan is an alternate identity for Bowzin, one that was not properly disclosed at the time of their application as a legislator, and therefore PodracingFan/Bowzin has committed the crime of identity fraud. This is the result of a consideration of the facts as presented to, or otherwise ascertained by, the Court, as well as a subsequent admission of those same facts by PodracingFan/Bowzin.

PodracingFan applied for legislator status on 10 March 2023, listing that name as their sole identity with no other aliases or regional involvements1. This application was accepted, but over the course of the following weeks the Legislator Committee both received and obtained evidence that cast doubt into PodracingFan’s identity. This evidence includes cases of suspicious nation activity, relocations suggestive of a relationship with Bowzin, and reviews of IP addresses used. While this evidence will not be reproduced in this ruling, even in redacted form, out of deference for the confidentiality of the procedures performed by the Legislator Committee, the Court reviewed the same and finds that it reasonably supports the conclusion that PodracingFan would be an alternate and previously undisclosed identity of Bowzin.

PodracingFan also openly admitted that they are indeed an alternate identity of Bowzin, noting that they had “deceived the region [and] violated the law”2. This lends further credence to the conclusion that the Legislator Committee had already reached and confirms that their legislator application was untruthful insofar as it omitted past aliases and involvements.

This omission runs contrary to the requirements of Article 2, Section 3b of the Legislator Committee Act, which requires that legislator applications include “any colloquial aliases of the individual in use within the last year, or in prominent use longer than a year ago”3. Insofar as PodracingFan failed to disclose their prior identity as Bowzin, this constitutes a deception that circumvents the laws of the South Pacific, meeting the conditions set for the commission of identity fraud under the Criminal Code4.

In view of the evidence presented by the Committee and the admission delivered by PodracingFan, the Court has no option but to find it more likely than not that PodracingFan is an alternate identity of Bowzin, that this identity was undisclosed in their legislator application in contravention of regional law, and that this constitutes identity fraud under the laws of the South Pacific. In view of these facts, the Court hereby finds PodracingFan guilty of the crime of identity fraud.

It is so ordered.
Footnotes and References

  1. PodracingFan (2023). PodracingFan’s Legislator Application. Retrieved from PodracingFan (PodracingFan)

  2. PodracingFan (2023). [Admission of PodracingFan’s identity as Bowzin] Retrieved from Office of Assembly Affairs - #84 by PodracingFan

  3. Legislator Committee Act; Article 2, Section 3b (2023). THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive.

  4. Criminal Code; Article 1, Section 2 (2023). THE MATT-DUCK Law Archive.

Submission: 18 April 2023 | Determination: 24 April 2023 | Verdict: 05 June 2023