The embattled owner of several towing companies in San Francisco made a federal court appearance Thursday with another defendant after being arrested on suspicion of defrauding an auto insurance company, U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey announced.
Jose Vincent Badillo and Jessica Najarro are accused of mail and wire fraud, as well as money laundering. Badillo has previously been charged by San Francisco prosecutors for an alleged welfare fraud scheme.
In July, Badillo and Najarro allegedly submitted a fraudulent insurance claim on a wrecked car that Badillo purchased five years ago.
According to prosecutors, the car Badillo bought was undrivable, with major front-end damage and an inoperative engine. He is accused of filing insurance claims on the damaged car, falsely saying Navarro had been in a single-car accident with it in San Francisco.
Navarro is accused of lying to insurance representatives in another state, which resulted in a $34,037 payout to the pair. The indictment alleges that the insurance reimbursement check was deposited a few days later into a Wells Fargo Bank account controlled by Badillo.
At the time of the alleged offenses in 2019, Badillo owned at least two towing companies: Jose’s Towing LLC, and Auto Towing LLC, both of which operated out of San Francisco.
Last August, the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office initiated debarment proceedings against Auto Towing, and in February they were officially prohibited from bidding on or receiving city contracts.
Jose Badillo co-owned three towing businesses in San Francisco between 2018 and 2023, according to the city. The three companies — Auto Towing, Jose’s Towing, and Specialty Towing and Recovery — generated over $2 million in gross annual income.
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