Division of Gaming Enforcement
John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General
Paul H. Zoubek, Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 7, 2000
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katherine Lyons (609) 777-2403
Man Indicted for Identity Theft and Attempted Theft
by Deception in Bank Cashier's Check Scam
ATLANTIC CITY -- Attorney General John
J. Farmer, Jr., today announced the indictment of
a man who assumed a false identity as part of a scheme
to obtain $100,000 from two Atlantic City casinos.
The Attorney General said that Benjamin
Gillard, 34, was named in a two count State Grand
Jury Indictment charging him with one count second-degree
Theft of Identity and one count second-degree Attempted
Theft by Deception against Tropicana Casino and Resort
and Caesars Atlantic City. The indictment was presented
by Deputy Attorney General Jill Moyer of the Division
of Criminal Justice, Casino Prosecutions Bureau. Gillard's
last known address was in Boston, Massachusetts; however,
his citizenship has not been established.
According to Paul Zoubek, Director of
the Division of Criminal Justice, Benjamin Gillard,
under the identity of Kelvin Foster Philips, attempted
to cash $100,000 in cashier's checks at Tropicana
and Caesars in November of 1999. However, an investigation
by New Jersey State Police assigned to the Division
of Gaming Enforcement and Division of Criminal Justice
investigators revealed that the $70,000 cashier's
check from an account in Philips' name at Bank of
Boston/Fleet Bank and the $30,000 cashier's check
from another account in Philips' name at Citizens
Bank in Boston were not negotiable because the funds
in the account itself were fraudulently obtained.
The defendant, posing as a businessman from Massachusetts,
was arrested by State Police Detective Sergeant First
Class Gerald Stoll when he tried to negotiate the
checks on November 15, 1999, at the Tropicana.
If convicted, Gillard could face up
to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison and fines up
to $150,000 for each charge. Gillard remains in Atlantic
County jail with bail set at $50,000; however, Massachusetts
authorities have requested he be detained in connection
with this matter.
An indictment is merely and accusation,
and the defendant is presumed innocent until or unless
proven guilty.
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