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The U.S. Department of Justice charged a San Francisco towing firm operator this week with insurance coverage fraud on the identical day that federal brokers executed search warrants at certainly one of his tow yards.
Jose Vicente Badillo, 28, the towing firm operator, is dealing with mail fraud, wire fraud, and cash laundering costs associated to a scheme to defraud an auto insurance coverage firm. Also charged within the case is 30-year-old Jessica Elizabeth Najarro.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged the operator of San Francisco towing firm Specialty Towing this week with insurance coverage fraud.
(SF.gov)
Federal prosecutors alleged in a legal criticism that Badillo and Najarro conspired to defraud the corporate by submitting a fraudulent insurance coverage declare on a wrecked automotive that he had bought in June 2019. Prosecutors stated the automotive Badillo bought already had front-end injury and a non-functioning engine.
Still, prosecutors alleged Najarro took possession of the automotive, bought insurance coverage for it, then filed a automotive accident declare. They stated she acquired an insurance coverage reimbursement examine for $34,000 and deposited it in a Wells Fargo Bank account allegedly managed by Badillo.
Badillo was arrested Thursday, the identical day that FBI brokers had been executing a number of search warrants in San Francisco, together with at one of many towing yards operated by Badillo and his spouse, Abigail T. Fuentes.
A spokesperson with the Department of Justice stated Badillo was arrested at a residence in the course of the FBI raids. Badillo was later launched after posting a $50,000 bond.
Badillo and Fuentes didn’t reply to requests for remark.
It is the most recent legal case introduced in opposition to Badillo who, together with Fuentes, is dealing with a number of felonies stemming from an alleged welfare fraud scheme that was introduced in opposition to them in October by the San Francisco County district lawyer’s workplace.
Prosecutors in that case alleged that as a Human Services Agency employee, Fuentes authorised Badillo’s purposes for public welfare applications and did not disclose her relationship to him.
They alleged that the pair additionally lied about their earnings and belongings to obtain different public advantages together with Medi-Cal and CalWorks.
Prosecutors stated whereas each schemes had been taking place, Badillo and Fuentes collectively operated three towing companies between 2018 and 2023. Prosecutors stated the three corporations — Auto Towing, Jose’s Towing and Specialty Towing and Recovery — generated greater than $2 million in gross annual earnings.
The scandals began to come back extra into gentle in April after a video, which went viral, confirmed a Specialty Towing truck driver making an attempt to tow a pair’s automotive whereas they had been stopped at a pink gentle in downtown San Francisco.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged a San Francisco towing firm operator this week with insurance coverage fraud on the identical day that federal brokers executed search warrants at certainly one of his tow yards.
(SF.gov)
The video exhibits the truck reversing with its wheel-lift lowered, trying to hook the entrance wheels of a silver Honda sedan, which saved reversing to keep away from the tow truck.
By then, Badillo and Fuentes had been banned from working within the metropolis due to the welfare fraud case and allegations that certainly one of their corporations was taking advantage of unlawful tows.
In August of final 12 months, San Francisco City Atty. David Chiu initiated debarment proceedings in opposition to Auto Towing to ban them from bidding or receiving contracts for 5 years after investigators discovered workers had illegally positioned a towing signal within the parking zone of a neighborhood financial institution and towed automobiles with out permission between February and May 2023.
An indication warning that automobiles might be towed.
(SF.gov)
The debarment course of typically requires an administrative listening to earlier than contractors accused of misconduct are prohibited from receiving metropolis funds.
Chiu stated most of the victims whose automobiles had been towed had been residents who primarily spoke Spanish and Cantonese, a gaggle that’s already inclined to predatory towing.
“Auto Towing also made it difficult for vehicle owners to retrieve their vehicles, restricted the hours when vehicles could be retrieved, and pressured vehicle owners to pay in cash,” Chiu stated in a written assertion on the time.
As a part of the method, Chiu listed seven witnesses together with automotive house owners and the financial institution’s department supervisor in court docket paperwork. Also included within the criticism had been images that confirmed tow vans hooking up automobiles from the financial institution’s parking zone, in addition to a receipt for greater than $500 that Chiu stated every automotive proprietor needed to pay to retrieve their automobiles.
Chiu took further motion in February by suspending Badillo and Fuentes in addition to the three corporations they collectively function, instantly prohibiting them from receiving public funds and receiving contracts till the welfare fraud case is resolved.
“Fuentes and Badillo have demonstrated a clear pattern of predatory behavior designed to enrich themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable among us,” Chiu stated in a written assertion. “Our City has no interest in contracting with exploitative businesses engaged in illegal conduct.”
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