16 votes

Thirty-three non-existent businesses tied to one Denver office got millions in COVID-19 relief money

6 comments

  1. [6]
    joplin
    Link
    That's a little scary that some rando can "revive" a business that shut down 20 years ago. How does that work? It sounds like they just put the FEIN on form and they're good to go, which is a...

    That's a little scary that some rando can "revive" a business that shut down 20 years ago. How does that work? It sounds like they just put the FEIN on form and they're good to go, which is a troubling. I used to own a business I shut down. I hope I don't end up having this happen to it. It's weird because I had to let the state know that I was shutting down the business or they'd keep coming after me for taxes. I ended up in a little snafu because I was trying to keep the bank account open until after the shutdown so I could pay the last year's taxes out of it, but they wouldn't let me shut down the business until the bank account was closed. So they clearly seem to know that a business has shut down (at least in Illinois where my business was). It seems strange that you can bring it back by just re-using the FEIN. I guess it's like stealing a dead person's Social Security ID, which they also appear to have done. Why isn't this a solved problem? When you send in a form with a dead company's FEIN and a dead person's SSID, shouldn't the FBI just show up at your door and have a word with you? How did they let it get this far?

    4 votes
    1. [5]
      moriarty
      Link Parent
      More than that. At least in my state someone can open a business in somebody else's name. No proof of identity is required because (and I quote the Secretary of State clerk I spoke to) you do so...

      More than that. At least in my state someone can open a business in somebody else's name. No proof of identity is required because (and I quote the Secretary of State clerk I spoke to) you do so under penalty of purgery. So when an identity thief got my details, he immediately proceeded to open a business in my (somewhat unique) name. I wasn't even informed. Months later when that business was used in a fraud case, I got served. There was no way for me to prove that it wasn't me who opened it.

      7 votes
      1. [3]
        joplin
        Link Parent
        Holy crap! WTF? That is messed up. How did you end up resolving it?

        Holy crap! WTF? That is messed up. How did you end up resolving it?

        6 votes
        1. [2]
          moriarty
          Link Parent
          I sent the opposing lawyer a copy of my original police reports along with the name and address of my identity thief and asked him to remove my name from the lawsuit. I told him that I would...

          I sent the opposing lawyer a copy of my original police reports along with the name and address of my identity thief and asked him to remove my name from the lawsuit. I told him that I would rather not have to hire an attorney, but if I'm forced to, I will seek legal fees. They were kind enough to drop my name.
          That business is still open under my name, by the way. My attempts to contact the Secretary of State to have them close it have failed because "I am not the legal owner of that business".

          5 votes
          1. joplin
            Link Parent
            Wow, that is horrible! How can the business be “opened under your name,” but you’re not the legal owner? Typical state bureaucracy, I guess. That’s literally Kafka-esque. I hope it doesn’t end up...

            Wow, that is horrible! How can the business be “opened under your name,” but you’re not the legal owner? Typical state bureaucracy, I guess. That’s literally Kafka-esque. I hope it doesn’t end up affecting your life anymore going forward.

            2 votes
      2. mrbig
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I always find crazy how many things in other countries seem to rely on trust. There seems to be an assumption of honesty. In Brazil you're assumed to be corrupt, which makes some things safer, but...

        I always find crazy how many things in other countries seem to rely on trust. There seems to be an assumption of honesty. In Brazil you're assumed to be corrupt, which makes some things safer, but everything is incredibly bureaucratic.

        The Brazilian post office is supposed to be very reliable because it's all designed with the assumption that they can't trust even their employees.

        5 votes