ID thief pleads guilty to doing Martha Stewart

A waiter in the US has pleaded guilty to a spate of identity thefts which saw him posing as some of the richest and most powerful figures in corporate America.

Among other high-profile figures, Abraham Abdallah impersonated Paul Allen, billionaire investor Warren Buffett and self-styled life guru Martha Stewart. He commited 12 different acts of fraud, including credit card, wire and mail fraud.

Abdallah's crime spree saw him steal $80m from individuals and companies. Despite this staggering sum, he told US District Judge Loretta Preska that he was not driven by greed.

Abdallah instead blamed it on a compulsive personality disorder, telling the court: "I have extensive history in this sort of thing. It always had to do with my ability to control my compulsions. If there is anyone on this earth that wants this to stop, I do."

Abdallah used computers in a local library to access credit records of Paul Allen and movie director Steven Spielberg. He also broke into banks' systems to access the account details of Stewart, as well as celebrities George Lucas and Oprah Winfrey.

To read more about Abdallah's crime spree, see how we covered the story following his arrest last year: http://www.silicon.com/a43357