Congressional candidate commits fraud behind bars

In Santa Ana, California, a former congressional candidate was charged with identity theft and sentenced to prison, Mercury News reports. Not only was 49-year-old Delecia Holt breaking the law by attempting to prepare a false federal tax return, writing bad checks and opening fraudulent bank accounts, she was doing so while already in jail - serving a two-year sentence for defrauding hotels and a car dealership. In 2005 and 2006, Holt was a candidate for Orange County's Congressional district. She was sentenced to six years and eight months for her most recent violations. According to the Federal Trade Commission, California has the third highest identity theft complaint rate per capita in the United States. In 2010, nearly 40,000 complaints were registered to the FTC. Tax or wage complaints accounted for more than 15 percent of government-related fraud in the United States during 2010. Since the internet started to become a hub of information and financial transactions, cases of credit card theft and identity fraud are experienced at a steadily higher rate each year.