Bail Bonds

LOS ANGELES—The former director of construction for Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena was sentenced this morning to three years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.8 million in restitution for orchestrating a kickback scheme in which companies were paid for work that was never done at the Pasadena hospital.

David Hamedany, 55, of Glendale, was sentenced by United States District Judge Percy Anderson. Hamedany pleaded guilty in May 2011 to two counts of mail fraud.

At this morning’s sentencing hearing, Judge Anderson said Hamedany was an immigrant who realized the American Dream, but had “lost his moral compass” and became motivated by greed.

Hamedany served as the director of construction for Huntington Memorial Hospital during the years from 2006 through 2010. Beginning in 2008, Hamedany orchestrated a billing and kickback scheme that resulted in the hospital paying more than $3 million to companies that performed no work at all for the hospital. The companies funneled 90 percent of the fees paid by the hospital to entities controlled by Hamedany. During the same time period, Hamedany entered into inflated contracts with entities that were performing services for the hospital, but agreed to inflate the price and pay the excess money in kickbacks to entities controlled by Hamedany. In total, the scheme, resulted in losses to the hospital of approximately $4.8 million.

In connection with this case, Hamedany has transferred ownership of his personal residence to Huntington Hospital to partially satisfy the restitution ordered today by Judge Anderson. Hamedany also has agreed to relinquish claims to vehicles and approximately $500,000 seized last year from a bank account last year.

Hamedany ripped off $4.8 million and did it between the years 2008 and 2010. It took them that long to figure it out? The bail set for the crime, suspect at the time of bail, was probably around $500K. Even if Hamedany was able to come up with that bail amount for $500K, it would have been held for verification as the judge would have put a PC 1275 hold to make sure the funds come from a legal source. For a bail of $500K, the cost to work with a bail bondsman is $50K. That’s 10% of the total bail which is regulated by the department of Insurance for the State of California. Our bail bonds company has dealt with large bonds like this before and the amount of work that goes in to them is phenomenal.

The case against Hamedany was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

CONTACT:
Assistant United States Attorney Angela J. Davis
Major Frauds Section
(213) 894-3456

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Daniel Richard Garcia, 30, of Fairfield was convicted today of malicious use of explosives, possession of a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence, and two counts of possession of unregistered destructive devices. The guilty verdict was returned by a federal court jury in Sacramento after a four-day trial before United States District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton.

According to testimony presented at trial, at approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 27, 2011, Garcia placed a bomb underneath an SUV parked next to an apartment building in Fairfield. The bomb detonated, causing a fireball and sending shrapnel into the car and the nearby apartment building where two young children were sleeping. Investigators were able to piece together parts of the bomb and link them to Garcia.

The targeted SUV belonged to Garcia’s former tenant and Garcia was angry that the tenant had taken a cable box and left behind trash when moving out. Garcia testified at trial that he had become “numb” about the dispute. During a June 16, 2011, search of Garcia’s house, law enforcement found and disabled a second bomb. Garcia was found and arrested two days later after a police stand-off.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fairfield Police Department, and the Yolo County Bomb Squad. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Anderson and Phillip A. Talbert prosecuted the case.

Bomb threats bring in quite a hefty bail amount, but this defendant, now criminal, surely had a different bail amount considering it wasn’t a threat and was an actual deployment. Most likely the bail amount was set at $1M seeing that it was probably attempted murder. In some cases of attempted murder there is no bail at all. The bail bonds process for working with a Sacramento bail bonds company for a $1M bond is 10% of the total bail. That is the state regulated fee for working with a bail bondsman. In this case that is $100K. Most likely an apartment manager won’t have $100K sitting around and even if he did, he’d need a lot of collateral, around $1M.

Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Karlton on April 3, 2012, at 9:15 a.m. The maximum statutory penalty for malicious use of explosives is 40 years in prison, the maximum penalty for possession of a destructive device in relation to a crime of violence is life in prison, and the maximum penalty for possession of an unregistered destructive device is 10 years in prison. Garcia faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 35 years. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

SAN FRANCISCO—Raymond Foakes, 48, of Rohnert Park, California, was sentenced yesterday to 70 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,085,000 in restitution for his role in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney MELINDA HAAG announced.

The defendant, the former president of the Hells Angels Sonoma Chapter, pleaded guilty on October 25, 2011, to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. According to the plea agreement, Foakes admitted that from 2006 until early 2007, he was involved in a scheme to fraudulently obtain mortgage loans for parcels of real property located in Northern California, including for a property located at Laguna Road in Santa Rosa, California. As part of this conspiracy, Foakes submitted a series of false statements on mortgage loan applications and altered bank statements. For example, the applications falsely stated that he had been self-employed as owner of “Foakes Concrete” for approximately 10 years, where he made approximately $24,000 per month, and the bank statements reflected inflated account balances and recurring deposits. Rather than occupy the property as a primary residence, as he stated on his applications he intended to do, he allowed it to be used as a marijuana grow house. Further, Foakes laundered the criminally derived proceeds by engaging in financial transactions over $10,000.

Foakes was one of several defendants indicted by a federal grand jury in the conspiracy on September 1, 2011. He was charged with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to maintain drug-involved premises.

How many counts of fraud are filed against the defendant? Our San Fancisco Bail Bonds office considers this to be a key ingredient in finding the bail bonds cost. The normal bail bonds process is that the defendant would pay the bail bondsman 10% of the total bail. This is a fee that is regulated by the department of Insurance. For sizeable bonds, usually $25K and up, collateral is required. In some rare cases where the defendant has great credit, long ties t their local community, collateral might not be needed.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup. Judge Alsup also sentenced the defendant to a three-year period of supervised release during which time he will face an expanded search condition and his ability to associate with other members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club will be limited. The defendant will begin serving the sentence immediately, having been in continuous federal custody since his arrest.

Kathryn Haun is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of a multi-year investigation by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Santa Rosa Resident Agency.

Further Information:

Case #: 11 CR 624 WHA

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

The FBI and its law enforcement partners are seeking the public’s assistance in order to identify one or more suspects linked to a series of seven bank robberies committed in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino in the past three weeks.

The “Puffy Coat Bandit” was nicknamed based on the ski-style jacket worn during a robbery that occurred on December 20, 2011 in the city of Chino. In subsequent robberies linked to the same series, the bandit wore a similar jacket, but in others, is seen wearing a thick plaid jacket. In all of the robberies, the bandit is seen wearing either a baseball cap or a beanie-style knit hat and does not conceal his facial features. The Puffy Coat Bandit enters the bank, presents a note demanding cash, and has simulated a weapon he indicated is concealed under his jacket, according to witnesses. The robberies have been linked based on modus operandi and witness descriptions, as well as bank surveillance photographs. The FBI is working with police officers and sheriff’s deputies in various cities to identify and apprehend the person/s responsible.

In robberies that occurred on 12/22 and 12/30 of 2011, witnesses described possible getaway vehicles used by the Puffy Coat Bandit, including a gold or copper-colored Ford Taurus and a Black Oldsmobile Alero with a spoiler. Witnesses have also described a male getaway driver in addition to the suspect who enters the bank, and investigators believe it’s possible that two male suspects are involved in the Puffy Coat robbery series. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the suspects seen in bank surveillance photographs may be different individuals with a similar appearance who alternate between robbing the bank and driving the getaway vehicle.

Witnesses have further described the suspect/s inside the bank as a white male, between 6’1” to 6’4” in height with a thin to medium build, and between 30-40 years of age. The bank robberies linked to the Puffy Coat Bandit are listed below:

12/20/2011 – US Bank, 1281 Central, Chino
12/22/2011 – Premier Services, 102 E. 6th St, Corona
12/28/2011 – Mission Oaks, 600 Central Lake, Elsinore
12/30/2011 – Union Bank, 601 W. Rt 66, Glendora
01/03/2012 – Chase Bank, 11900 South St, Cerritos
01/07/2012 – US Bank, 1281 Central, Chino
01/09/2012 – Comerica Bank, 12035 Foothill, Rancho Cucamonga

When this suspect is arrested, the bail bonds should be pretty hefty. The police department will list the charges and associate a bail bonds cost to each one. In the end the total bail will most likely be over $500K. That means that if the defendant wants to be bailed out by utilizing a bail bonds company, they will need to come up with $50K. This is the 10% fee that bail bonds companies are regulated to take, according to the Department of Insurance and the State of California.

Bank surveillance photographs of the suspects and of a possible suspect vehicle are being released to the media. Anyone with information as to the identity or whereabouts of the suspect/s in the above-listed series is urged to contact the FBI or dial 911 immediately. In Los Angeles, the FBI can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 888 CANT HIDE (888 226-8443).

Photos of additional bank robbery suspects being sought by the FBI and its law enforcement partners in the Southern California area can be found by visiting www.labankrobbers.org.

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today Stephanie Yost, 39, of Tulare, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to six counts of wire fraud related to an embezzlement scheme she orchestrated with two coworkers.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark J. McKeon and Ian Garriques are prosecuting the case.

According to the guilty plea, Yost admitted that between April 2004 and April 2005, she developed a scheme to embezzle money from Faulkner Trucking by preparing duplicate pay checks for herself and co-defendants Vickie Ann Kyle and Dustie Denise Levine. According to court documents, Kyle was a secretary and Levine was a billing clerk at Falkner Trucking. The total loss amount, which will be determined by the court at sentencing, was between $120,000 and $241,000.

Yost is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on April 2, 2012. Kyle and Levine previously pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 27, 2012. The maximum statutory penalty for the conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Bail Bonds amounts for these crimes were not presented in this article, but our bail bonds company believes that the bail amounts would have been $50K for Yost and probably $25K for the other two. All three defendants would have had PC 1275 holds on them as well. This is when the judge puts a motion together to make sure the funds that are gathered by the defendants are from legal sources and not funded from their actual embezzlement or fraud.