CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)–November 14, 2016. A property manager has been charged in federal court with fraudulently pocketing more than $150,000 in illegal fees from a condominium association in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.
ALAN P. GOLD, the owner and operator of Chicago-based A.P. Gold Realty & Management Inc., overbilled the Edgewater condo association for management services that were never performed, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. He also skimmed from the association’s reserve account by paying himself monies to which he was not entitled, the complaint states.
Gold is suspected of pilfering an additional $750,000 from eight other Chicago condominium associations, according to the complaint.
The complaint charges Gold, 65, of Chicago, with one count of mail fraud. He was arrested on Nov. 9, 2016, and made an initial appearance that day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox. Judge Cox ordered Gold released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.
The complaint was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to the complaint, Gold had signature authority over the Edgewater condo association’s bank accounts and was supposed to draw a monthly fee of $650 for management services, which included collecting special assessments and paying utility providers. Gold overbilled the association by withdrawing multiple $650 checks in the same month, and he tapped into its reserve fund to write substantially higher checks to himself, the complaint states. All told, Gold stole approximately $154,271 from the Edgewater condo association between 2010 and 2014.
Gold defrauded the other associations in a similar manner, the complaint states. He concealed the frauds by furnishing fraudulent monthly statements to the condo associations that showed their balances to be higher than they actually were, according to the complaint.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Mail fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Didwania.
Source: http://justice.gov
