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OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEWS RELEASE
| INCIDENT: | Scam Arrest |
| DATE/TIME: | April 20, 2017/1400 hours |
| LOCATION: | 400 block South Oxnard Boulevard |
| VICTIM(S): | Not disclosed |
| SUSPECT(S): | Rodriguez, Jose “Frank” Francisco, 57 years old |
| WITNESS(ES): | N/A |
| SUSPECT VEHICLE(S): | None |
| LOSS: | $100,000+ |
| PREPARED BY: | Detective Erica Escalante |
| CONTACT PERSON AND CONTACT INFO: | Detective Erica Escalante (805) 385-7661 |
DETAILS:
Detective Erica Escalante, the Financial Crimes Investigator for the Oxnard Police Department, received information that Jose “Frank” Francisco Rodriguez, 57 years old, of Oxnard, was scamming people out of money by falsely holding himself out as an investment broker. Rodriguez took only cash payments of thousands of dollars from his victims with the promise of purchasing stocks for them and tripling their investments in three years. Detective Escalante found that Rodriguez had an outstanding arrest warrant from the County of Los Angeles in relation to the exact same type of scam theft crimes with many victims in Los Angeles in 2014. Members of the Oxnard Police Department Property Crimes and Neighborhood Policing Team located Rodriguez in the 400 block of South Oxnard Boulevard, where they took him into custody for his outstanding arrest warrant without incident. The bail was set at $180,000, and Rodriguez’ custody will be transferred to Los Angeles County. Anybody with information about Rodriguez’ theft scams is encouraged to contact Detective Escalante at (805) 385-7661 or Erica.Escalante@OxnardPD.org.
The public should be aware that somebody selling stocks or securities should be a licensed broker with the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission and/or hold a certificate from the California Commissioner of Business Oversight. License status can be researched at the California Department of Business Oversight online at http://www.dbo.ca.gov/Resources/default.asp or by calling (866) 275-2677.
DATE / TIME PREPARED: April 20, 2017/1800 hours
