Identity definition modification for purposes of identity theft crime

A bill for an act

relating to public safety; modifying definition of identity for purposes of identity

theft crime; expanding authority of financial crimes and fraud section of Bureau

of Criminal Apprehension; making changes to administrative subpoenas; altering

statutes of limitation for certain fraud-related offenses; amending Minnesota

Statutes 2024, section 609.527, subdivision 1; Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement,

sections 299C.061, subdivision 3; 628.26.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 299C.061, subdivision 3, is

amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Duties.

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(a)
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The Financial Crimes and Fraud Section shall:

(1) review notices and reports of insurance fraud and related crimes submitted by

authorized insurers, their employees, and agents or producers pursuant to sections
60A.951

to
60A.956
;

(2) initiate inquiries and conduct investigations when the Section has reason to believe

that any of the following offenses have been or are being committed:

(i) fraud involving state-funded or administered programs or services in subdivision 1,

paragraph (b);

(ii) insurance fraud and related crimes, as defined in sections
60A.951, subdivision 4
,

and
609.611
, and support of those activities;

(iii) wage theft and related crimes; and

(iv) any other financial crimes; and

(3) operate the automobile theft prevention program under section
65B.84
.

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(b) For the purpose of investigating financial crimes and fraud, including but not limited

to fraud involving state-funded or administered programs or services as defined in subdivision

1, paragraph (b), and insurance fraud as defined in section 609.611, the superintendent of

the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension may subpoena books, papers, correspondence,

memoranda, agreements, or other documents or records that the superintendent considers

relevant or material to the investigation. A subpoena issued under this subdivision must

state that the person to whom the subpoena is directed must not disclose that the subpoena

was issued or that the requested records have been given to law enforcement personnel

except:

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(1) insofar as the disclosure is necessary to find and disclose the records; or

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(2) pursuant to a court order.

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(c) The commissioner must report crimes related to insurance fraud disclosed by the

Department of Commerce's investigations of civil insurance fraud to the Bureau of Criminal

Apprehension.

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Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 609.527, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

(a) As used in this section, the following terms have the

meanings given them in this subdivision.

(b) "Direct victim" means any person or entity described in section
611A.01, paragraph

(b)
, whose identity has been transferred, used, or possessed in violation of this section.

(c) "False pretense" means any false, fictitious, misleading, or fraudulent information

or pretense or pretext depicting or including or deceptively similar to the name, logo, website

address, email address, postal address, telephone number, or any other identifying information

of a for-profit or not-for-profit business or organization or of a government agency, to which

the user has no legitimate claim of right.

(d) "Financial institution" has the meaning given in section
13A.01, subdivision 2
.

(e) "Identity" means any name,
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voice or likeness,
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number, or data transmission that may

be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to identify a specific individual

or entity, including any of the following:

(1)
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a
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name, Social Security number, date of birth, official government-issued driver's

license or identification number, government passport number, or employer or taxpayer

identification number;

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(2) forged digital likeness, meaning a visual representation of an actual and identifiable

individual, or an audio recording of an actual identifiable individual's voice that:

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(i) has been digitally created, adapted, altered, or modified in an attempt to be

indistinguishable from a genuine visual representation or audio recording of the individual;

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(ii) misrepresents the appearance, speech, or conduct of the individual; and

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(iii) is likely to deceive a reasonable person into believing that the visual representation

or audio recording is genuine.

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(2)
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(3)
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unique electronic identification number, address, account number, or routing

code; or

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(3)
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(4)
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telecommunication identification information or access device.

(f) "Indirect victim" means any person or entity described in section
611A.01, paragraph

(b)
, other than a direct victim.

(g) "Loss" means value obtained, as defined in section
609.52, subdivision 1
, clause (3),

and expenses incurred by a direct or indirect victim as a result of a violation of this section.

(h) "Unlawful activity" means:

(1) any felony violation of the laws of this state or any felony violation of a similar law

of another state or the United States; and

(2) any nonfelony violation of the laws of this state involving theft, theft by swindle,

forgery, fraud, or giving false information to a public official, or any nonfelony violation

of a similar law of another state or the United States.

(i) "Scanning device" means a scanner, reader, or any other electronic device that is used

to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize, or store, temporarily or permanently, information

encoded on a computer chip or magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card, driver's license,

or state-issued identification card.

(j) "Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded information from the

computer chip or magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card, driver's license, or state-issued

identification card, onto the computer chip or magnetic strip or stripe of a different payment

card, driver's license, or state-issued identification card, or any electronic medium that

allows an authorized transaction to occur.

(k) "Payment card" means a credit card, charge card, debit card, or any other card that:

(1) is issued to an authorized card user; and

(2) allows the user to obtain, purchase, or receive credit, money, a good, a service, or

anything of value.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 628.26, is amended to read:

628.26 LIMITATIONS.

(a) Indictments or complaints for any crime resulting in the death of the victim may be

found or made at any time after the death of the person killed.

(b) Indictments or complaints for a violation of section
609.25
may be found or made

at any time after the commission of the offense.

(c) Indictments or complaints for violation of section
609.282
may be found or made at

any time after the commission of the offense if the victim was under the age of 18 at the

time of the offense.

(d) Indictments or complaints for violation of section
609.282
where the victim was 18

years of age or older at the time of the offense, or
609.42, subdivision 1
, clause (1) or (2),

shall be found or made and filed in the proper court within six years after the commission

of the offense.

(e) Indictments or complaints for violation of sections
609.322
,
609.342
to
609.345
, and

609.3458
may be found or made at any time after the commission of the offense.

(f) Indictments or complaints for a violation of section
609.561
shall be found or made

and filed in the proper court within ten years after the commission of the offense.

(g) Indictments or complaints for violation of sections
609.466
and
609.52, subdivision

2
, paragraph (a), clause (3), item (iii), shall be found or made and filed in the proper court

within six years after the commission of the offense.

(h) Indictments or complaints for violation of section
609.2335, 609.52, subdivision 2
,

paragraph (a), clause (3), items (i) and (ii), (4), (15), or (16),
609.631
, or
609.821
, where

the value of the property or services stolen is more than $35,000, or for violation of section

609.527
where the offense involves eight or more direct victims or the total combined loss

to the direct and indirect victims is more than $35,000, shall be found or made and filed in

the proper court within five years after the commission of the offense.

(i) Except for violations relating to false material statements, representations or omissions,

indictments or complaints for violations of section
609.671
shall be found or made and filed

in the proper court within five years after the commission of the offense.

(j) Indictments or complaints for violation of sections
609.562
and
609.563
, shall be

found or made and filed in the proper court within five years after the commission of the

offense.

(k) Indictments or complaints for violation of section
609.746
shall be found or made

and filed in the proper court within the later of three years after the commission of the

offense or three years after the offense was reported to law enforcement authorities.

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(l) The statute of limitations for criminal offenses defined or referenced in sections

80A.75; 508.80; 609.445; 609.465; 609.52, subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (4); 609.53;

or 609.645, shall not begin to run until the victim or a law enforcement agency is aware of

the fraud, but in no event may the prosecution be commenced later than seven years after

the act has occurred.

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(l)
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(m)
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In all other cases, indictments or complaints shall be found or made and filed in

the proper court within three years after the commission of the offense.

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(m)
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(n)
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The limitations periods contained in this section shall exclude any period of time

during which the defendant was not an inhabitant of or usually resident within this state.

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(n)
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(o)
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The limitations periods contained in this section for an offense shall not include

any period during which the alleged offender participated under a written agreement in a

pretrial diversion program relating to that offense.

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(o)
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(p)
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The limitations periods contained in this section shall not include any period of

time during which physical evidence relating to the offense was undergoing DNA analysis,

as defined in section
299C.155
, unless the defendant demonstrates that the prosecuting or

law enforcement agency purposefully delayed the DNA analysis process in order to gain

an unfair advantage.