Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Danville man arrested for distribution of child porn and more, Tuesday

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On July 7, 2016, a Grand Jury in Contra Costa County indicted twenty-seven year old Danville resident Nickolas Robert Thurston on charges he distributed and possessed child pornography, conspired to access protected computer systems and used the identities of multiple women in an attempt to unlawfully gain access to their “cloud” computer accounts.

Following indictment, Danville police arrested Thurston at his home on July 12, 2016 and he is currently in the custody of the Contra Costa County Sheriff with bail set at 1.5 million dollars.  Thurston will make his first appearance in court on July 12, 2016 in front of the Honorable Patricia Scanlon.

The indictment alleges that between January 1, 2016 and May 24, 2016, Thurston conspired with an unnamed co-conspirator to unlawfully access the protected “cloud” accounts of women and girls that he knew in an attempt to gain revealing photographs of them and distributed their personal information in order to further the plan.  The indictment further alleges that Thurston operated a website to distribute child pornography and directly distributed images of a nine-year-old girl engaged in sexual activity via email.

On May 24, 2016, investigators from the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant on Buena Vista Drive in Danville.  During the course of that search warrant service, investigators developed probable cause to arrest Thurston and numerous items of evidence were seized from his house.

Thurston has been indicted on two counts of distribution of child pornography in violation of California Penal Code 311.2(c), one count of possession of child pornography in violation of California Penal Code 311.11(a), four counts of identity theft in violation of California Penal Code 530.5(a), three counts of accessing or attempting to access a protected computer system to steal files in violation of California Penal Code 502(c)(1) and conspiracy to commit computer theft in violation of California Penal Code 182(a)(1).

The maximum penalty for the above charged offenses is approximately five years and a requirement to register as a sex offender.  An indictment is an allegation that a crime has occurred and all charges must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.

Contra Costa DA files grand theft charges against Antioch couple for four-year Ponzi scheme

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The Contra Costa District Attorney has filed eight felony counts of grand theft by fraud and embezzlement against Quyen Tran, age 60, and his wife, Mai Han Tran, age, 56, both of Antioch, for conducting a Ponzi scheme that lasted over four years. The total loss to eight victims was $256,000.

Quyen “Tony” Tran and Mai “Lisa” Tran, made friends with the victims in the Vietnamese church and social community. Mai Tran invited the victims over to her house in Antioch for a social event, but once there, Quyen invited the victims up to his office and told them of his 25 years of investment experience, his investment savvy,  and how he could make a lot of money for them through his investments skill.

He told one victim that he had an inside line on a Pharmaceutical company IPO, that was later found to be non-existent. The victims were impressed by Quyen’s lavish lifestyle and expensive jewelry and cars and his perceived financial acumen and appearance of wealth. Victims believed him when he told them he never lost any money. The investments, primarily in cash, ranged from $4,000 to $156,000 and the agreements were all verbal.

In this classic Ponzi scheme, instead of investing their money, Tran used the victim’s money for personal expenses, and to maintain his lavish lifestyle, and to pay dividends to early investors, in order to keep the illusion that he was making money in order to attract new investors. When some of the victims demanded their money back after receiving nothing after several months, he told them it was a loan, or that the money was generating returns and was locked up and if he returned money it would be taxed at 45% tax rate. He told other victims that he had lost their money and his bank accounts were frozen. When the victims demanded proof that he had purchased stock, he never provided any. Tran did engage in some minor day-trading, but lost money in 4 of 6 years. In the two years that he made a small profit, he never returned any money to the investors. But Tran continued to tell new investors that he never lost any money.

A forensic accountant and an investigator found that there were several victims from years beyond the four year statute of limitations who lost money to Tran, but these victims never went to the police, because of the cultural shame and distrust of the police.

In addition to the eight counts of fraud, both Trans are charged with money laundering, conspiracy, sale of unlicensed securities and a white collar enhancement of stealing over $100,000. The District Attorney also filed a Temporary Restraining Order and a Lis Pendens on the Tran’s residence which has some equity that could be used to pay restitution.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the Tran’s arrest. If you have been a victim of the Trans in the past ten years, please contact Inspector Al Cofer at the District Attorney’s office at 925-957-8761.

DA Peterson, West County Police Chiefs meet to address freeway shootings

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On Thursday, Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark A. Peterson and the West Contra Costa County Police Chiefs Association met to discuss strategies to prevent, investigate, and prosecute freeway shootings in the West County area, and also to review the current efforts to address the shootings.

The West Contra Costa County Police Chiefs and their respective City Managers and City Council members believe that approaching this issue in a collaborative manner is essential.  Prior to yesterday’s meeting, West County Chiefs met regarding the freeway shootings; all six chiefs agreed that with collaboration comes a better understanding of diverse perspectives and that the coordinated efforts of many can accomplish more than the efforts of one or a few separately.

Attending the meeting were chiefs from the El Cerrito, Richmond, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, and Kensington police departments, as well as members of the county’s Probation Department, and the Offices of the Sheriff and District Attorney.

Since November 2nd, 2015, there have been 13 shootings on Interstate 80, and one on Interstate 580, for a total of 14 shootings in the western portion of Contra Costa County. Of the 14 shootings, two resulted in the deaths of the occupants of the vehicles. On several other occasions, no one was injured as the shots struck only the vehicles, or missed the intended vehicle occupants and their cars entirely.

To date, the great majority of these freeway shootings are gang related. Many of the victimsand witnesses in these cases have been uncooperative with investigators. The lack of cooperation coupled with the random nature of the shootings makes solving such crimes extremely problematic. Additionally, since the crimes occur at very high speeds, there are very few, if any, percipient witnesses.

Chief Paul Fontana, commander of the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) Golden Gate Division, has convened several recent meetings of law enforcement executives from throughout Contra Costa and Alameda counties regarding the shootings. In the county, an ad-hoc task force of teams of investigators from the CHP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Contra Costa Safe Streets Task Force respond to all freeway shootings in the county.

The Task Force includes members of the California Highway Patrol, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Richmond Police Department, Pittsburg Police Department, Antioch Police Department, Concord Police Department, El Cerrito Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, Probation Department, District Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,and Explosives.

In addition, Deputy District Attorney Barry Grove who has over a decade of experience prosecuting murder cases has been assigned to assist on all freeway shooting investigations; he routinely responds to the shooting sites to provide legal advice and investigative guidance.

In addition to the investigative efforts, law enforcement is working with representatives of the Governor’s Office, the California Department of Transportation, and local mayors and other elected officials to explore the use of other technologies to assist in the effort to stop the shootings. These include the installation of high resolution cameras, gunshot detection technology, and other technologies, on the freeways and the entry/exit ramps.

Preventing freeway shootings, and prosecuting those responsible for them, is one of the top priorities for government at all levels in the county.Nearly a quarter million people travel daily on Interstate 80 in Contra Costa County, and we will do everything possible to ensure their safety.

We are seeking the public’s help on this critical public safety matter. Anyone with information concerning the shootings is encouraged to contactthe California Highway Patrol Investigative Services Unit at (510) 622-4609 or 1-800-TELL-CHP, or your local law enforcement agency.

West County Police Chiefs Association

Hercules Chief of Police Bill Goswick (Chairperson, West County Police Chiefs)

El Cerrito Interim Chief of Police Paul Keith

Kensington Chief of Police Kevin Hart

Pinole Chief of Police Neil Gang

San Pablo Chief of Police Lisa Rosales

Richmond Chief of Police Allwyn Brown

Office of the Sheriff Captain Dan Hoffman, Patrol Division Commander

DA charges Concord company owners with felony fraud, grand theft, Friday

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District Attorney Mark Peterson announced, Friday that after an extensive investigation, 11 felony charges were filed against Nathan and Sarah Moore, owners of NRM Renovations, Inc., in Concord for workers’ compensation fraud, grand theft of labor and payroll tax fraud.

When reached for comment, Nathan Moore said “No comment. I have no comment.”

The investigation originally began with a series of wage and labor complaints to the U.S. Department of Labor in June of 2015.  Allegations included that workers were not being paid for work they completed doing hotel renovations for NRM Renovations. The Department of Labor forwarded these complaints to the District Attorney’s office, and a joint investigation of suspected labor violations began. The investigation expanded to include three state agencies.  The CA Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) assisted in interviewing the employees. The CA Department of Insurance (CDI) investigated allegations regarding the underpayment of workers’ compensation insurance premiums.  The Employment and Development Department (EDD) helped investigate tax and payroll issues.

NRM Renovations is alleged to owe over $30,000 in back wages to several employees, approximately $250,000 in workers’ compensation premiums to several different insurance companies, and back taxes to the EDD on over $1,000,000 in wages.

Charges include three counts of violating Insurance Code §11760(a) (Workers’ Compensation fraud), and one violation each of Insurance Code §11880(a) (Workers’ Compensation fraud), Penal Code §487 (grand theft of labor), Unemployment Insurance Code (“UI”) §2108 (nonpayment of contributions), UI Code §2177.5 (failure to file a return), and UI 2118.5 (Failure to account and pay over taxes). Due to the amount of loss, the defendants were also charged with an Aggravated White Collar Crime enhancement under Penal Code §186.11(a)(3).

“Businesses that exploit their workers through wage theft will be prosecuted,” said District Attorney Mark Peterson. “We place a priority on restitution for all victims.”

Multiple agencies assisted the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office with this investigation including: the US Department of Labor, the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of Insurance, the Employment and Development Department, the State Compensation Insurance Fund, Norguard and Benchmark Insurance Companies.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

DA Peterson, law enforcement agencies hold Day of Action to raise awareness on slavery and human trafficking in Contra Costa

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District Attorney Mark Peterson announced that his office is collaborating with local law enforcement agencies, the County’s Zero Tolerance for Human Trafficking Coalition, Family Justice Centers, and community-based organizations to raise awareness of human trafficking and slavery, provide services and support to victims and bring traffickers to justice. Contra Costa County includes Human Trafficking in its “Zero Tolerance Initiative” and will coordinate with similar initiatives in neighboring counties such as Alameda.

Peterson notes that such coordinated efforts are important to combat the many forms of modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The FBI has identified California as one of the nation’s top four destination states for trafficked persons. According to Peterson, Contra Costa County is a natural corridor for human trafficking activities with its linkage to major metropolitan areas like Oakland and San Francisco via public transportation (BART) and its accessibility to Los Angeles and Sacramento via major highways such as 680, 80 and 5 (via Hwy 4). Though human trafficking is illegal, victims often do not know where to turn for help and community members may not know where to report suspicious situations.

As part of the County’s awareness-raising efforts, Peterson announced a “Day of Action” to enforce Senate Bill 1193 (SB1193). This law, which was passed in 2013, requires specified businesses including airports, train stations, truck stops, certain bars, urgent care centers, farm labor contractors, and certain massage parlors to post notices listing information about human trafficking and a hotline number for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

Today, Saturday, April 23, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office and police agencies in Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill and Martinez are personally contacting some of the businesses covered by SB1193 and provide posters that include hotline numbers to seek help or report unlawful activity.

For additional information regarding SB 1193, please visit the Attorney General’s website at www.oag.ca.gov or contact your local law enforcement to report any possible slavery or human trafficking activity.