Charges Pile Up for SF-Based Towing Operator Now Accused of Staging Accident, Faking Tow

The San Francisco tow company operator charged with insurance fraud and money laundering earlier this month has been named in a second federal insurance fraud case.

Jose Badillo, the embattled owner of multiple towing companies that have made headlines in recent months, is now accused of taking part in two additional schemes to defraud auto insurance companies in 2019 by agreeing to falsely document a tow and staging an accident. The case brings new charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on Aug. 20, alleges that Kirill Afanasyev, 36, purchased a wrecked vehicle in 2019. Jaime Respicio, 38, of Pleasant Hill, obtained an insurance policy on it, and Afanasyev, pretending to be Respicio, reported that it had been in a single-car accident months later. The company sent Respicio a reimbursement check for more than $47,800.

Badillo is accused of agreeing to falsely document that his company towed the vehicle from the location of its purported accident.

In the second scheme, Badillo, Afanasyev and Jason Naraja, 37, of Hayward, are accused of submitting fraudulent insurance claims after staging a multiple-car accident in San Mateo County.

According to the indictment, Badillo and Afanasyev planned for Badillo to load a carrier with four vehicles, multiple of which were inoperable or previously damaged, and drive them off the road intentionally.

“After Badillo reported this ‘accident’ to his insurance company, Badillo, Afanasyev, Naraja, and another individual all made false or misleading statements to an insurance company representative,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

The indictment alleges that the insurance company denied Badillo’s claim as fraudulent, but one of his companies was paid over $5,000 for recovering, towing and storing the vehicles.

His towing companies — Auto Towing, Jose’s Towing, and Specialty Towing and Recovery  — were barred from doing business with San Francisco for five years in July after City Attorney David Chiu said his office became aware that they had illegally towed at least six vehicles and engaged in predatory business practices.

Allegations against the company go back at least as far as 2019 when Sammy Hallaq alleges his car was illegally towed; his quest to recover damages aided an investigation by the San Francisco district attorney’s office. In April, a video of a Specialty Towing driver attempting to tow a moving vehicle in San Francisco also went viral online.

Badillo was indicted Aug. 8 on charges related to another alleged insurance fraud scheme. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday for arraignment in both cases. If he is convicted, the two schemes in the new case both carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison.

Separately, Badillo and his partner, Abigail Fuentes, were charged in October by the San Francisco district attorney’s office in relation to an alleged welfare fraud scheme.

The couple allegedly defrauded multiple benefits programs, including one incident while Fuentes worked as a senior eligibility worker for the city’s Human Services Agency. According to court documents, she approved Badillo’s benefits requests after he reported having a monthly income of $1,000 and no additional assets.

Respicio and Najara were released on bail after their initial appearances on Wednesday and will return for arraignment in the coming week. Afanasyev will be arraigned in September.