THREE SET FOR TRIAL IN WATER SCAM RESIDENTS TOLD FILTERS NEEDED TO COMBAT 'CONTAMINATION'.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Staff Writer VENTURA - Three employees of a Burbank company were ordered Monday to stand trial on charges that they sold filtration systems to 40 Ventura County families by falsely saying the tap water was contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with feces and pesticides, authorities said. Aurora Vergara, president of Everclear Water Systems Inc., and salespeople Juan Abanto and Laura Ortega are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 11 on 29 felony and misdemeanor charges. Abanto and Ortega each face six felony counts of grand theft by false pretenses False representations of material past or present facts, known by the wrongdoer to be false, and made with the intent to defraud a victim into passing title in property to the wrongdoer. . All three defendants also face charges of conspiracy to defraud, contracting without a license and selling unlawful water treatment devices. ``The evidence showed that they were targeting people with Hispanic surnames,'' said prosecutor Mitch Disney. ``The individuals they targeted also seemed to be immigrants, many of them relatively low income.'' The company also faces felony charges, which could result in substantial fines if it is found guilty, said Disney. Abanto and Ortega used their high-pressure tactics to mostly Spanish- speaking families they visited door-to-door in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , Moorpark, Fillmore, Piru and Oxnard between February and December 1999, authorities said. Using the deceptive sales tactics, they sold customers purifying systems for more than $6,000 with an 18 percent interest rate on financing agreements Financing Agreements In the context of project financing, the documents which provide the project financing and sponsor support for the project as defined in the project contracts. , Disney said. The market value for similar systems is significantly less, authorities said. The company is also under investigation in San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. County, authorities said. |
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