Burbank man one of 20 charged with fraud

Ben Godar

A Burbank man was one of 20 area residents charged recently with

stealing more than $1.1 million in Social Security funds.

Arthur Nathaniel Gilbert, 83, is charged with one count of Social

Security fraud and one count of theft of government property for

continuing to collect checks on behalf of his father, who died in

1985, prosecutors said. He allegedly collected $92,212 in fraudulent checks.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John Webb said Gilbert’s case was exceptional

because of the length of time that the fraud continued.

“He kept a low profile and no one realized there was a problem,”

he said.

If convicted, Gilbert could face up to 15 years in prison.

The 20 people charged were not conspiring together, Webb said.

They were charged as part of a sweep designed to clear some of the

backlog of cases, as well as send a message to others committing the

same types of fraud, he said.

Ben Godar