Fmr College Students Sentenced for Attempting to Access President Trump’s Tax Returns

These charges arose out of a plot between the defendants, then students at Haverford College, to use computers at the school’s computer lab and the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) website to illegally access the tax returns.  Hiemstra and Harris opened a false FAFSA application in the name of a member of the Trump family and found that someone else had already obtained a username and password for Donald Trump.  In order to reset the password, the defendants were prompted to answer challenge questions, which the original person had created when setting up the account.  The defendants were able to answer the questions and reset the password.  They then used the President’s personal identifying information, including his social security number and date of birth, to attempt to import the President’s federal tax information into the bogus FAFSA application.  Ultimately, this illegal attempt failed.

“Hiemstra and Harris thought they could manipulate and outsmart the FAFSA application process in order to obtain Donald Trump’s tax returns for their own purposes.  As it turns out, that was not such a smart move:  they committed a serious violation of privacy rights and a federal crime in the process,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain.  “Now they have both been held accountable.  And those who complete the FAFSA application, please take note: this Office takes these kinds of cybersecurity breaches seriously and we are doing everything we can to keep your personal information safe.”

The case was investigated by the Department of Education – Office of Inspector General and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony J. Wzorek.