The District Attorney’s Office has charged the owner of a Ceres business that built food trucks of defrauding 28 customers out of nearly $1 million, alleging he took their money and failed to build their trucks.
Fernando Ochoa Jauregui, 28, was arraigned in Stanislaus County Superior Court on Thursday afternoon. Ochoa’s public defender, Donnell Snipes, pleaded not guilty on his behalf. A Spanish language interpreter helped Ochoa understand the proceedings.
Ochoa was arrested this week in Modesto and is being held at the Public Safety Center. His bail is set at $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 license in May 2023, and felony vandalism for allegedly destroying someone’s phone and misdemeanor battery in December. The bail in these cases is $40,845, according to authorities.
‘We’re really heartbroken’
Modesto resident Cinthia Martinez Moreno said in an interview she and her husband hired Ochoa three years ago to repair and remodel a 1976 Chevrolet food truck they had bought. 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 have their own local business.
“These were our hopes and dreams — becoming business owners and having a better future for ourselves and our kids,” Moreno said. “We’re really heartbroken. It’s taken three years and all of our savings. We live check by check.”
She said they found someone else to compete the work on their food truck but at a cost of nearly $14,000. Moreno said she and her husband are in the process of getting their food truck permitted by 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 coming up with reasons for why he was not finishing the work. “He had so many excuses,” she said. “But it got to the point where we got fed up.”
Moreno is listed as one of the victims in the criminal complaint against Ochoa but did not attend his Thursday court hearing before Superior Court Judge Marie Sovey Silveira.
Other than a reporter, the only spectators in court were Modesto husband and wife Salvador and Jessie Mendoza. They said Salvador Mendoza’s son is married to Ochoa’s sister. They said in an interview 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 when he was 19. “He’s a good kid,” Jessie Mendoza said. “He’s hardworking, intelligent.” She said he is the father of two young daughters and believes he is divorced from their mother.
Jauregui’s Ceres business is called 8A Food Trucks. A call to the phone number listed online for the business results in this message: “Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and dial again.” The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office said there is no evidence Ochoa’s employees were involved in the alleged defrauding of his customers.
How not to get ripped off
Ochoa is charged with 28 felony counts of obtaining money under false pretenses along with the allegation 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’s savings in these food trucks, and now they are trying to put their lives back together,” Ceres police Sgt. Dirk Nieuwenhuis said.
Nieuwenhuis said people can protect themselves from being ripped off by asking for current references, checking court records or even looking at Yelp reviews. He said it makes sense to pay an attorney to review the contract, especially if you are 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 its 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 individuals who are crime victims to report the incident to law enforcement.”