Camarillo man pleads guilty to money laundering, identity theft
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced Wednesday that a Camarillo man has pled guilty to multiple felonies relating to assistance program fraud.
Jose Refugio Carbajal, 54, pled guilty to the crimes which include public benefits fraud, identity theft, money laundering and conspiracy.
The charges are related to his leadership in a scheme to fraudulently accept more than $3.8 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The DA's Office said Carbajal was the CEO of the corporation that owned Four Way Meat Market on East Date Street and Carniceria 4 Caminos Market, both of which were located in Oxnard.
In June 2016, the USDA suspended Carbajal's right to accept SNAP benefits at both locations. The DA said, after the suspension took effect, Carbajal continued to work at both markets and accept SNAP benefits.
In August 2019, the District Attorney's Office Government Fraud Unit served search warrants in relation to this case and reported finding evidence that proved Carbajal conspired with other people to reconfigure the point-of-sale devices at both markets which allowed each location to accept SNAP benefits without detection.
Carbajal is expected to be sentenced to one year in jail before being placed on probation for two years.
After pleading guilty to these charges, Carbajal paid $1,390,985 in restitution to the USDA and agreed to not contest the forfeiture of $242,020 in cash that was seized during the execution of the search warrants.
The DA's Office said criminal charges are still pending against Carbajal's wife, Adelina Carbajal of Camarillo, Karla Orellana of Sun Valley and Antonia Penaloza-Penaloza of Panorama City.
An early disposition conference is set for the codefendants on November 30, 2021, at 1:30 p.m., in courtroom 23 of the Ventura County Superior Court.
Carbajal’s sentencing is scheduled for January 4, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. in courtroom 23 of the Ventura County Superior Court.
