Dozens of mostly working-class wannabe business owners lost their life savings to a flashy fraudster promising to build them food trucks, prosecutors allege.
Fernando Jauregui Ochoa, 30, from Ceres, California, has been convicted of defrauding about $1 million through his 8A Food Trucks business, which was supposed to build customers food trucks and trailers for operation in Central California.
Most of the clients were immigrant farmworkers, cooks, custodians and construction workers, who’d spent years saving to start their own businesses, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some handed over their lifesavings for the for custom-made trucks and trailers that were never built, while others borrowed money from relatives in Mexico, prosecutors claim.
The LA Times previously reported that customers alleged Ochoa collected cash from the customers for trailers or trucks that either didn’t work or never appeared at all.
Meanwhile, Ochoa posed on social media with pictures of fast cars, jet skiing or golfing.
Investigators also claim he used the cash to fund drugs, vacations and other personal expenses.
As complaints against Ochoa’s food truck business piled up, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office began looking into allegations that customers had been swindled.
The District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, working with the Ceres Police Department, eventually opened a wider criminal investigation.
Authorities said the inquiry revealed a much larger fraud scheme involving more than 40 victims and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to prosecutors, customers paid Ochoa to build food trucks, but much of that money never went toward completing their orders.
Some customers said their efforts to confront Ochoa over the missing money also resulted in threats, including men brandishing a weapon at their restaurant’s drive-thru during a dispute.
Ochoa was arrested in April 2024 and has remained behind bars on $1 million bail, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He was ultimately convicted on 18 counts of obtaining money by fraud, with prosecutors alleging the losses exceeded $500,000.
He was also found guilty of one count of witness intimidation.
Prosecutors said Ochoa preyed on particularly vulnerable customers, including people he targeted because of their immigration status.
“This case demonstrates the devastating impact fraud can have on unsuspecting victims,” Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero said in a statement.
“These individuals trusted Ochoa with their life savings.”
“Instead, he exploited their trust and vulnerabilities and stole from them,” Laugero added. The district attorney’s office credited investigators with piecing together the extent of the scheme and finding dozens of victims.
Ochoa is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30.
Prosecutors said he is expected to receive a 20-year state prison sentence and be ordered to repay his victims.
Meantime in Los Angeles, the California Post has also been investigating how street vendors conduct business.
There were 9,746 public health complaints about street food vendors filed across Los Angeles County from 2023 until early 2026.
Some of the allegations include a dog eating meat out of a street vendor’s bag before it was served to customers, cockroaches crawling out of a food truck, mice scurrying beside open salsa, raw meat baking unrefrigerated in the heat and people urinating around cooking equipment.
This all comes as LA Mayor Karen Bass ordered the LAPD this week to stop issuing criminal citations to street vendors who flout the rules.
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