Hawaii tour boat operator allegedly faked credentials

Yahoo

3 days ago

A tour boat operator involved in a snorkeling accident that injured 10 people in June 2022 is facing federal charges after he allegedly stole personal identifying information to fake his credential for more than a decade, according to federal court records.
Jeffrey Scott Worthen, 61, worked on tour boats in Alaska and Maui since the late 1990s and allegedly stole the identities of a boat captain, a business owner and an ex-girlfriend to create fake federal credentials that allowed him to get work.
Worthen needed a 'Merchant Mariner Credential, ' a U.S. Coast Guard issued credential that serves as the mariner's 'qualification document, certificate of identification, and certificate of service ' and must be produced when requested to prove the ability to work on the water.
The credential is not valid until signed by the applicant and an authorized Coast Guard official.
Worthen is charged with fraud within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., aggravated identity theft and making false statements to federal investigators, according to a March 27 criminal complaint.
He allegedly submitted fraudulent MMC cards to his employers in Alaska and Hawaii from 2012 to 2022, according to federal court documents.
On June 9, 2022, the 26-foot rigid hull inflatable 'Great White ' owned and operated by Hawaii Ocean Rafting of Lahaina, was underway with 15 passengers and two crew members, including Worthen at the helm and a deckhand.
At about 10 :22 a.m. that morning while en route to a second snorkel site, Worthen 'attempted to pass through a section of water between Sweetheart Rock and another rocky pinnacle near Lanai when the vessel struck a rock, ' according to an affidavit authored by special agent with the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Five passengers were ejected overboard into the water, and nine passengers and a deckhand were injured. The damage to the vessel resulted in flooding.
After recovering all passengers from the water, passengers and crew members donned life jackets and started waving down other boats because the radio didn't work. Two vessels responded and took the passengers back to Lahaina Harbor.
As part of the Coast Guard's investigation of the crash, they asked for the company's personnel records, which included credential checks.
Investigators identified 'several major discrepancies ' with the MMC Worthen shared with Hawaii Ocean Rafting's owners.
They included a profile picture not within policy ; the MMC's document reference and serial number were assigned to a different person ; Worthen's personal information not in capitalized letters ; the Officer in Charge of Marine Inspections name and signature were not the applicable person, and standard watermarks and holograms used on properly issued MMCs were faded, according to the affidavit.
A check of the serial number revealed it belonged to a man in Maryland and the document number belonged to a boat captain in Alaska that Worthen worked with doing whale watching tours.
During an interview with investigators on Sept. 14, 2022, Worthen allegedly said he 'renewed his MMC online ' through the Coast Guard's Portal and 'uploaded all information and his picture, which was taken by him in his bedroom.'
'He denied the MMC copies being false and signed the copies presented, as true copies of his MMC. Additionally, Worthen stated he lost his MMC overboard during the incident and that he had thrown away all prior MMC's. He had been working on commercial vessels in Maui and Alaska since the 1990s, ' according to the affidavit.
Worthen is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court Thursday before Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren M. Naka ­mura is prosecuting the case. Worthen is represented by the office of the Federal Public Defender.