The brazen scheme orchestrated by French national Gabriel Adrien Lobe Diop, 35, to defraud the California State Controller’s Office out of nearly $2 million has finally come to a close. Diop, previously residing in Fremont and Agoura Hills, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution for nine counts of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, Diop orchestrated a complex scheme between 2019 and 2021 to obtain millions of dollars of Unclaimed Property Division funds from the California State Controller’s Office. He assumed the identities of victims for whom the Controller’s Office was holding significant amounts of unclaimed property and submitted fraudulent applications for that property.
Diop used a combination of post office boxes, mail forwarding requests, counterfeit notary stamps, and falsified driver licenses issued by numerous states to conceal his involvement in the fraud. He primarily spent the proceeds of his fraud on luxury goods, property, and consumer electronics.
The scheme was eventually disrupted when law enforcement agents executed search and arrest warrants at Diop’s residence in Agoura Hills in June 2021. Inside his residence, agents seized counterfeit stamps that Diop used to “notarize” his fraudulent applications for unclaimed property, 12 falsified driver licenses, bank cards and check books in his victims’ names.
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert praised the efforts of law enforcement, stating, “It took a remarkable amount of energy for the defendant to steal nearly $2 million from the State Controller’s Office and attempt to steal millions more… Today’s sentence should make it clear to the defendant and to those who would imitate him that my office and our law enforcement partners will put a similar amount of energy into bringing those who commit serious white-collar crimes to justice.”
State Controller Malia Cohen also commended the efforts of law enforcement, stating, “The State Controller’s Office has a zero-tolerance policy on any criminal activities related to theft from the Unclaimed Property Division and will not tolerate theft of property we are here to protect. Mr. Diop’s sophisticated fraud scheme was insufficient to bypass detection, and he was ultimately apprehended, tried, and convicted for his criminal activities.”
Related Federal Cases
- Sacramento Con Man Gets 4+ Years for $1.1M Tax Heist · California
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- Tax Cheat Gets 18 Months for $1.2M Scam · Alabama
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- Tax Fixer Gets 18 Months for $1.2M Fraud Scheme · Alaska
Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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