SANTA BARBARA- Joseph Anthony Mele, 30, of Ventura, pleaded no contest to multiple felony charges for ripping off two senior citizens in the amount of $2 million in an annuity scam. He pleaded no contest to grand theft by false pretenses, theft from an elder and money laundering. “Elder financial abuse is an egregious crime,” […]
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ABC Agents Shut Down After-Hours, Underground Night Club
OAKLAND- How did patrons know they could buy drinks all night long at a club in a basement in Oakland called “Studio 361”? Social media. How did California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents and Oakland Police officers discover it? Citizen complaints. That’s when agents and officers went in undercover and discovered a bar scene where […]
DOJ Special Agents Seize 541 Firearms from a home in Clovis
CLOVIS – It’s hard to imagine that a single home nestled in a Clovis neighborhood would contain 541 firearms and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition, but that’s what California Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Firearms special agents found when they investigated a man who is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a mental health […]
CDI Detectives Discover School Security Officer Committing Workers’ Comp Fraud
SAN BERNARDINO- On November 16, 2015, Valentino H. Douglas, 45, of Rialto, was arrested on multiple counts of felony insurance fraud after receiving more than $112,000 in workers’ compensation benefits for an alleged work injury that actually occurred a month earlier while playing softball, according to California Department of Insurance detectives. While employed as a […]
ABC Agents Identify Who Provided Alcohol to Underage Drinkers Involved in Solo Vehicle Crash
SHASTA COUNTY – Two Shasta County men were scheduled to be arraigned on November 16, 2015 for charges that involve providing alcohol to underage drinkers, some of whom were injured in a solo vehicle accident on State Route 44 on June 20, 2015. Ten people were in the vehicle at the time of the crash, […]
Man Sentenced to Prison for $2 Million Tax Evasion & Insurance Fraud Scheme
SANTA ANA – On November 13, 2015, A Laguna Hills man was sentenced to one year and four months in state prison for his role in a $2 million tax evasion and insurance fraud scheme. His wife, sentenced previously for involvement in the same case, was sentenced to three years formal probation. Both are ordered […]
Two Insurance Brokers Arraigned on Embezzlement Charges
SAN FRANCISCO – Kudos to California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) Members and California Department of Insurance (CDI) Investigators Leanne Borden and Kristen Schriber who conducted an extensive investigation into an embezzlement case that led to the arrests of two Marin County men. According to San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, Christopher Ramos, 38, of Santa […]
DOJ Special Agents Team With Sacramento Sheriff’s Deputies In Three Day Operation
SACRAMENTO – When California Department of Justice special agents teamed with Sacramento Sheriff’s deputies in a three-day operation to removed firearms from people who are not legally allowed to possess them, the results were huge. Agents and deputies seized 82 firearms and arrested 10 people. “To seize 82 firearms, in one community, in three days, […]
CSLEA & FOP Lodge 77 President Alan Barcelona Calls On Members To Boycott Film Director Tarantino
SACRAMENTO- California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President and California Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Trustee Alan Barcelona joins a growing list of law enforcement association leaders calling on members to boycott Director Quentin Tarantino’s films, includingThe Hateful Eight, which is scheduled to be released later this year. In addition to the new release, Barcelona […]
CEO of Prosthetic Limb Company Arrested for Insurance Fraud
LOS ANGELES – On October 23, 2015, Peter Lira, 53, chief executive officer of Am-Pro Prosthetics & Orthotics in Whittier, was arrested on three felony counts of insurance fraud for allegedly billing Anthem Blue Cross for a $170,000 prosthetic arm knowing the patient had died and the prosthetic arm was no longer needed. Suspecting fraud, […]
