Castle Rock Man Convicted of Making False Claims in Attempt to Defraud Department of Argiculture's Finance Office

DENVER – Gunther Glaub, age 56, of Castle Rock, Colorado, was recently convicted of five counts of making false claims against the government following a three-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer, FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers and U.S. Department of Education Office of the Inspector General Special Agent in Charge of Western Regional Office Natalie Forbort announced. A sixth count, mailing a fictitious money order, was dismissed before trial. Glaub, who is free on bond, will be sentenced by Judge Moore on May 12, 2017. He was originally indicted by a federal grand jury on June 6, 2016. His guilty verdict came on January 25, 2017.

According to court documents, as well as information and evidence produced to court during hearings and at trial, Glaub tried to defraud the Department of Agriculture’s finance office into paying nearly $1.7 million worth of debts on his behalf. The five false claims he was convicted of submitting included attempts to get the government to buy him three new vehicles (including a $73,000 Corvette and a $65,000 Camaro) and pay off two other debts (including student loans he owed to the Department of Education).

During pretrial proceedings, information indicated that Glaub was involved with the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement, whose adherents refuse to recognize the authority of the federal government and often use those purported beliefs as a gateway to illegal activity. Testimony at trial confirmed Glaub’s sovereign affiliation, and his actions were consistent with known fraud schemes that are prevalent in sovereign citizen circles.

Glaub faces not more than 5 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine, per count, for each of the five counts of conviction.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education Office of the Inspector General. The defendant was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Burrows and Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly.