COURTESY PHOTOS The real Edward Cook, who died in 1994, is shown at left. Robert Sohnrey, posing as Cook, is shown at right.

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Isle resident’s ID theft
aimed at avoiding
child support

Robert Sohnrey will be
sentenced today for
the eight-year scheme

A fugitive who evaded authorities for eight years in Hawaii by taking on the identity of a dead California man told an investigator he concocted the scheme to avoid paying family support payments -- a debt that had grown to nearly $200,000 when he was indicted in late 2003.

The admission by Robert E.M. Sohnrey is described in recently filed court documents and is the first indication from him on why he went to such unusual lengths to take on the identity of Edward B. Cook, who died in 1994.

The Star-Bulletin wrote in January 2004 about how completely Sohnrey tried to escape his past, even going to the extent of divorcing his then-wife, Siew K. Tan, in 1997, remarrying her a few months later under his bogus moniker and naming their first child after the dead man's brother.

The federal documents, filed in advance of Sohnrey's scheduled sentencing today in U.S. District Court, shed additional light on how thoroughly he orchestrated the hoax and for the first time indicate that Tan knew she was participating in an illegal scheme.

Chris Castellanos, a special agent for the Social Security Administration, said in a sworn declaration filed March 24 that Tan admitted in October 2003 that she knew it was illegal for her husband to assume Cook's identity but did not think it was serious. She also said she was aware that her husband was receiving federal disability benefits that were in Cook's name, according to Castellanos' declaration.

Tan has not been charged in this case. She could not be reached for comment.

Tracy Hino, the assistant U.S. attorney handling the case, declined comment on whether Tan would be charged.

Sohnrey pleaded guilty in December 2003 to Social Security fraud, identification theft, passport fraud and failure to pay child support. He faces up to 32 years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

Sohnrey's attorney, William Domingo, did not respond to a request for comment this week. Domingo previously had declined comment, citing his client's pending sentencing.

The fraud began shortly before Sohnrey and Tan moved to Hawaii in late 1994, court records say.

The new documents show that Sohnrey was so thorough in taking on Cook's identity after reading about his death in a California newspaper obituary that he eventually obtained copies of Cook's 1956 Maine birth certificate, his California college transcript and his teaching certificate, among other documents, to glean biographical information on the dead man.

Using Cook's name, he obtained numerous credit cards, an airline mileage card, driver's licenses, a college alumni card, a voter registration card, a passport and other identifying cards and paperwork to perpetuate the fraud, according to the court documents.

After Sohnrey read about Cook's death, he arranged for the U.S. Postal Service to redirect Cook's mail to him, the documents say. He also subsequently persuaded the federal government to resume paying Cook's disability benefits.

Sohnrey told Castellanos that he initiated the ID theft to avoid child-support payments and had known that an arrest warrant was issued for him in California over that debt, according to the documents. Sohnrey had two children from his previous marriage, which ended in 1993.

Castellanos also said in his declaration that Sohnrey indicated that he used most of the roughly $70,000 in disability payments to pay off Cook's debts so Sohnrey would have better credit as Cook.

The fraud eventually was discovered after Sohnrey, as Cook, reported receiving income as a pearl appraiser even though he was getting the monthly disability payments, triggering a federal investigation, the records show.

Rob Sohnrey, who identified himself as Sohnrey's son from his previous marriage, said in an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin this week that he had not heard from his father since 1993 and did not know his whereabouts until he read about the Hawaii case on the Internet.

"I'm glad that Sohnrey is finally getting what he deserves," Rob Sohnrey wrote.