Man charged in fake ID scam

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Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- A Massachusetts man was indicted Friday on charges he assumed a fake identity and tried to bilk the Tropicana and Caesars casinos in Atlantic City.

Benjamin Gillard, 34, was charged with theft and theft of identity in a two-count indictment handed up by a grand jury. Gillard, who has been jailed since his arrest last November, was being held in the Atlantic County jail on $50,000 bail. If convicted, he could get 10 years on each charge.

Gillard, whose last known address was in Boston, assumed the name of Kelvin Foster Philips prior to a November trip here, said Paul Zoubek, director of the state Division of Criminal Justice.

Gillard sent FAX copies of two cashier's checks to the casinos in advance of his trip, asking that they cash them.

One check, drawn on an account in Philips' name at the Bank of Boston, was for $70,000; the other, drawn on a Philips account at Citizens Bank in Boston, was for $30,000.