STRATEGIC PARTNERS
January 27, 2002
MODESTO, Calif. -- Police arrested former postal carrier Ronald Scott Gilbert on charges he stole an ATM card from a customer and used it to withdraw $2,452 from the victim's bank account, according to the Modesto Bee.
Gilbert was booked on charges of grand theft, theft of an access card, commercial burglary and theft by a postal carrier, the Bee reported.
He became a suspect after Randy Combs of Modesto recognized his letter carrier as the man he saw in security photos snapped by Guaranty Federal Bank's ATM security camera. Officials began looking at photos taken by the ATM camera after Combs insisted he had not used an ATM card to make withdrawals from his account.
The trouble started last December when Combs ordered a new ATM card from Guaranty. Bank officials said the card would arrive in 10 days. However, the card and PIN number never arrived in the mail, and Combs began receiving insufficient-funds notices from his bank. Bank investigators confirmed that several transactions had been made with Combs' bank card, then checked the video footage which showed it wasn't Combs withdrawing the money.
On Feb. 17, Combs saw his letter carrier delivering his mail to his home and identified him as the man from the ATM camera photographs. He notified bank officials and they contacted police, who launched an investigation. Gilbert was fired from his Postal Service job in February.
