A 53 year old former Santa Ana and Stanton cop is accused of taking private investigators and clients for a ride, all while claiming to be an investigator himself. According to the LA Times, the man claimed to be a licensed investigator, gaining clients and contracting with other investigators only to leave the contractors without payment and the clients often without the services they paid for.
The man is said to have asked for help from other professional investigators, contracting with them for jobs and then not paying for their services. When they would try to complain to others in the field, he is accused of threatening them and even stating he would burn one’s house down if the complaints didn’t stop.
As far as his clients—he was said to often make up investigations to his secretary, blatantly lying to the people who hired him.
People who complained to the police about his actions were frequently told it was a civil matter or that there weren’t enough resources to investigate the case. Now, however, he is facing criminal charges. After several police departments, the FBI, the IRS, and the postmaster were approached with complaints, the Orange County district attorney’s office is now investigating.
The suspect is expected to be arraigned this week on over 60 different charges. The charges include grand theft, possession of a firearm by a felon, identity theft, 2nd degree commercial burglary, perjury, computer access and fraud, and possession of ammunition. He is also facing odd charges for conspiracy to commit sexual assault of an animal for Craigslist ads he is said to have posted seeking women to have sexual relations with his dog.
The suspect allegedly drew on what he knew of being in law enforcement to work the system for so long. According to one P.I., “He knows where the envelope is and how far he could push the line. He knows when the police will get involved, and he teetered on that line.”
Now, however, he stands to spend several years behind bars for his alleged crimes. Too often when someone gets away with one white collar crime like fraud, they think they should continue working the system. This never ends good for that person, however, as their greed eventually pushes them too far.
If you are facing charges of fraud or theft, even if it’s nowhere near as serious as this former cop’s, you should be concerned about how a conviction can affect your future. Contact our attorneys to discuss the charges against you and how they may change your life.