Prosecutors have charged the owner of a Ceres company that built food trucks with defrauding 28 customers of nearly $1 million, claiming he took their money and failed to build their trucks.
Fernando Ochoa Jauregui, 28, was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Stanislaus County Superior Court. Ochoa’s public defender, Donnell Snipes, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. A Spanish interpreter helped Ochoa understand the procedure.
Ochoa was arrested this week in Modesto and is being held at the Public Safety Center. His bail is $500,000.
Snipes also pleaded not guilty on behalf of Ochoa in three other cases: allegedly writing $21,374 in bad checks in July 2023, misdemeanor reckless driving and misdemeanor driving without a valid driver’s license in May 2023, and misdemeanor vandalism for allegedly destroying someone’s phone and misdemeanor battery in December. According to authorities, the bail in these cases is $40,845.
‘We are truly heartbroken’
Modesto resident Cinthia Martinez Moreno said in an interview that she and her husband hired Ochoa three years ago to repair and remodel a 1976 Chevrolet food truck they had purchased. Moreno said she and her husband paid Ochoa about $20,000.
Moreno said she and her husband commute to San Mateo for work and their dream is to own their own local business.
“These were our hopes and dreams: to become entrepreneurs and have a better future for ourselves and our children,” Moreno said. “We are truly heartbroken. It took three years and all our savings. We live check by check.”
She said they found someone else to do the work on their food truck, but it cost almost $14,000. Moreno said she and her husband are in the process of getting permission for their food truck through the city of Modesto. She said she and her husband expect to launch their food truck next month.
Moreno said they found Ochoa on Facebook and Instagram. She said he is personable and persuasive and kept making up reasons why he didn’t finish the job. “He had so many excuses,” she said. “But it got to the point where we were fed up.”
Moreno is named as one of the victims in the criminal complaint against Ochoa, but was not present at Thursday’s hearing before Supreme Court Judge Marie Sovey Silveira.
Besides a reporter, the only spectators in the courtroom were the couple Modesto Salvador and Jessie Mendoza. They said Salvador Mendoza’s son is married to Ochoa’s sister. They said in an interview that the allegations against Ochoa are completely at odds with what they know about him.
They said he lived with them for about a year when he came from Mexico at age 19. “He’s a good kid,” Jessie Mendoza said. “He works hard and is intelligent.” She said he is the father of two young daughters and believes he is divorced from their mother.
Jauregui’s Ceres company is called 8A Food Trucks. A call to the phone number listed online for the company results in this message: “Your call could not be completed as dialed. Check the number and call again.” The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office said there is no evidence that Ochoa’s employees were involved in the alleged defrauding of his clients.
How not to get scammed
Ochoa is charged with 28 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses, along with the charge that “the manner in which the crime was carried out indicated planning, sophistication or professionalism.” The criminal complaint alleges the amount stolen totaled $992,895.
“So many people put their life savings into these food trucks, and now they’re trying to get their lives back on track,” says Ceres police officer. says Dirk Nieuwenhuis.
Nieuwenhuis said people can protect themselves from scams by asking for current references, checking court records or even checking Yelp reviews. He said it makes sense to pay a lawyer to review the contract, especially if you’re spending several thousand or more dollars.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone who believes he or she may have been defrauded by Ochoa to contact the Bureau of Investigation at 209-525-5550.
“The District Attorney’s Office serves all victims of crime, regardless of their immigration status,” it said in a statement. “We encourage undocumented persons who are victims of a crime to report the incident to the police.”
