Man charged with stealing $150K from Edgewater condo association

A property manager is facing federal charges for allegedly pocketing more than $150,000 in illegal fees from a condominium association in the North Side Edgewater neighborhood.

Alan P. Gold, 65, was arrested Nov. 9 and charged with one count of mail fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Gold, owner and operator of A.P. Gold Realty & Management Inc., had authority over the condo association’s bank accounts, prosecutors said. He was supposed to draw a monthly $650 fee for management services such as collecting special assessments and paying utility providers.

Prosecutors said Gold over-billed the association by withdrawing multiple $650 checks in the same month and tapping into the association’s reserve fund to write “substantially higher” checks to himself. He is accused of stealing $154,271 from the association between 2010 and 2014.

He also tried to conceal the fraud by providing fraudulent monthly statements to the association that showed their account balances higher than they actually were, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

If convicted of the mail fraud charge, Gold could face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, according to prosecutors.