French National Gets 10 Years for Defrauding California’s Unclaimed Property Division

A French national was sentenced to a decade in prison June 10 for defrauding the California State Controller’s Office out of nearly $2 million from its Unclaimed Property Division, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors say Gabriel Adrien Lobe Diop, 35, who previously resided in Fremont and Agoura Hills, posed as multiple victims for whom the controller’s office held “significant” amounts of unclaimed property. He would then submit fraudulent applications using post office boxes, mail-forwarding requests, counterfeit notary stamps, and fake driver’s licenses from several states. “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,” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said....