chicagotribune.com
Chicago broker missing since '79 found working in Las Vegas
Staff report
1:14 PM CDT, July 22, 2011
A former Chicago commodities broker, missing for more than three decades and declared legally dead, has been discovered working as a bookie in Las Vegas, officials say.
Arthur Gerald Jones, 72, was arrested July 19 and charged with identity theft and fraud, acccording to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
Jones has been living under the name of Joseph Richard Sandelli since about the time of his disappearance in 1979, and has been working in a local sports book for the past 10 years, according to investigators from the Nevada DMV and the Social Security Administration.
Jones held a seat on the Chicago Board of Trade when he was reported missing from Highland Park. Authorities said his disappearance was suspicious, and some believed he may have met with foul play because of gambling debts and "possible organized crime affiliations," Nevada authorities said.
An Illinois court declared Jones legally dead in 1986, listing his date of death as May 11, 1979, the day he disappeared. Jones’ wife and three children collected Social Security benefits as a result.
Investigators say Jones claims he obtained a false Illinois driver license, birth certificate and Social Security card after he disappeared. He claims to have bought the documents for $800 in Chicago in 1979 before going to Florida. Jones allegedly used those documents to obtain a Nevada driver license in 1988.
Jones was arrested after a complaint about the fraudulent use of a Social Security number, authorities said.
Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the Nevada DMV, said agency police arrested Jones on Tuesday. Social Security investigators had approached his agency for its help in finding Jones, who had a Nevada driver's license as Sandelli.
The Social Security Administration had been investigating Jones for some time after receiving complaints he was using someone else's social security number.
The Nevada state attorney general's office is prosecuting the case, Malone said.
They said an investigation by the Social Security Administration and the Nevada Motor Vehicles Department turned up the false driver license under the name of Sandelli.
Jones has been ordered held on $20,000 bail.
Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...g-in-las-vegas-20110722,0,1311273,print.story
Chicago broker missing since '79 found working in Las Vegas
Staff report
1:14 PM CDT, July 22, 2011
A former Chicago commodities broker, missing for more than three decades and declared legally dead, has been discovered working as a bookie in Las Vegas, officials say.
Arthur Gerald Jones, 72, was arrested July 19 and charged with identity theft and fraud, acccording to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.
Jones has been living under the name of Joseph Richard Sandelli since about the time of his disappearance in 1979, and has been working in a local sports book for the past 10 years, according to investigators from the Nevada DMV and the Social Security Administration.
Jones held a seat on the Chicago Board of Trade when he was reported missing from Highland Park. Authorities said his disappearance was suspicious, and some believed he may have met with foul play because of gambling debts and "possible organized crime affiliations," Nevada authorities said.
An Illinois court declared Jones legally dead in 1986, listing his date of death as May 11, 1979, the day he disappeared. Jones’ wife and three children collected Social Security benefits as a result.
Investigators say Jones claims he obtained a false Illinois driver license, birth certificate and Social Security card after he disappeared. He claims to have bought the documents for $800 in Chicago in 1979 before going to Florida. Jones allegedly used those documents to obtain a Nevada driver license in 1988.
Jones was arrested after a complaint about the fraudulent use of a Social Security number, authorities said.
Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the Nevada DMV, said agency police arrested Jones on Tuesday. Social Security investigators had approached his agency for its help in finding Jones, who had a Nevada driver's license as Sandelli.
The Social Security Administration had been investigating Jones for some time after receiving complaints he was using someone else's social security number.
The Nevada state attorney general's office is prosecuting the case, Malone said.
They said an investigation by the Social Security Administration and the Nevada Motor Vehicles Department turned up the false driver license under the name of Sandelli.
Jones has been ordered held on $20,000 bail.
Copyright © 2011, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...g-in-las-vegas-20110722,0,1311273,print.story
