Vincent Cardinalli Sr., accused of more than 100 felonies
related to a defunct towing business, recently filed and won a $4.5
million judgment against a witness for the prosecution. Maria
Shiraki, co-owner of Arteaga’s Super Save Food Centers in Gilroy,
and her 79-year-old mother-in-law Clara Shiraki received a letter
in March from Cardinalli threatening to sue them for emotional
distress, defamation, personal injury and breach of contract. The
Gilroy residents paid no attention to the former tow-truck
operator, who is in custody awaiting trial for conspiracy, perjury,
forgery and other felony charges for abusing the court system.
Vincent Cardinalli Sr., accused of more than 100 felonies related to a defunct towing business, recently filed and won a $4.5 million judgment against a witness for the prosecution.
Maria Shiraki, co-owner of Arteaga’s Super Save Food Centers in Gilroy, and her 79-year-old mother-in-law Clara Shiraki received a letter in March from Cardinalli threatening to sue them for emotional distress, defamation, personal injury and breach of contract. The Gilroy residents paid no attention to the former tow-truck operator, who is in custody awaiting trial for conspiracy, perjury, forgery and other felony charges for abusing the court system.
“I thought he was full of it,” Maria Shiraki said, sitting behind a desk in her upstairs office at Arteaga’s on First Street.
Yet, when Maria Shiraki failed to appear in court to defend herself against Cardinalli’s charges, she discovered that Cardinalli had indeed sued her and obtained a $4.5 million default judgment in her absence. She and her attorney are now working to reverse the ruling.
“The lawsuit seems to have absolutely no legal basis,” said Stephen Heller, Maria Shiraki’s attorney. “I have no idea whatsoever where the $4.5 million claimed by Mr. Cardinalli comes from. I feel confident that she’ll prevail.”
Maria Shiraki recently received permission from a judge to file an argument in her defense, Heller said.
Three years ago, Clara Shiraki met Cardinalli while at small claims court trying to recover money and bank fees from a customer whose check had bounced, Maria Shiraki said. Cardinalli approached Clara Shiraki and offered his services in exchange for a small fee. He said the Shirakis were going about their business in court “all wrong” and that they could sue for more.
“My initial impression was that he knew what he was doing and he was a good person,” Maria Shiraki said.
But soon after Maria Shiraki signed a contract with Cardinalli entitling him to half the money he recovered in court, an article published in the Dispatch describing Cardinalli’s “crooked” business dealings caused her to sever ties to the tow-truck operator.
As the owner of several businesses himself, Cardinalli was no stranger to the small claims courtroom, hauling hundreds of people into court since 1999 and clogging the system with an avalanche of lawsuits against unwitting motorists for towing, storage and lien sale fees, according to prosecutors. Often, the motorists never owned the vehicles or sold them years before they were towed. This practice netted Cardinalli and three family members – co-defendants in the criminal case – hundreds of thousands of dollars. These lawsuits spurred the district attorney’s to file 157 felony counts against the towing family.
In addition, Cardinalli faces a misdemeanor charge of illegally practicing law – a charge stemming from his representation of the Shirakis in small claims court.
Astonished that Cardinalli – who fired his lawyer and is acting on his own behalf – was allowed by the court to sue a witness in his criminal case, Maria Shiraki spoke calmly to Cardinalli when she testified during his preliminary hearing.
“I told him he was wasting his time,” she said.
Deputy District Attorney Dale Lohman said she could charge Cardinalli with witness intimidation but decided not to “muddy the waters.”
“We have enough going on,” she said. “Enough charges, enough exposure. We didn’t think it would add that much.”
Cardinalli, his son, his daughter and his son-in-law will go to trial as early as December. A trial setting hearing will be held 8:30 a.m. Nov. 30 in Department 24 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
Though many motorists fell victim to Cardinalli and his family’s “tow and sue” scam, the attorney for one company prevailed and tried to prevent lawsuits like the one Cardinalli filed against the Shirakis from being allowed in the future. In 2007, Greg Adler of Copart Inc., an auto salvage firm, helped one of Cardinalli’s targets file a motion to have the former tow truck operator declared a “vexatious litigant” – someone who files repeated, frivolous lawsuits.
“He’s a convicted felon in police custody awaiting trial on dozens of felony counts for abusing the court system. I can’t believe the courts would allow him to file new litigation against two witnesses in his pending criminal case and not require him to post a security bond,” Adler said.
Cardinalli’s status as a vexatious litigant prohibits him from filing lawsuits in California without the approval of a court’s presiding judge, Adler said.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Presiding Judge Jamie Jacobs-May refused to say why she allowed Cardinalli’s case against the Shirakis because she is “absolutely ethically precluded from discussing the specifics of the case with anyone,” according to Superior Court Spokesman Carl Schulhof. However, her decision to allow Cardinalli to file the suit as a vexatious litigant “is not a commentary on the likelihood of that case being successful but merely an indication that the case appears on its face to have some merit,” he said.
Earlier this year, Cardinalli also filed two separate appeals of the vexatious litigant order with the Sixth District Court of Appeals, according to court documents. Both appeals were denied because his “request has failed to make the necessary show of merit,” according to the documents.
“He’s desperate,” Maria Shiraki said. “He’s got nothing to lose. Because we’re a minority, he thinks we’re going to be easy cash. He thinks he can do with us what he wants.”
What the Cardinalli family faces
-Felony counts against Cardinalli family: 157
-Misdemeanor counts: 1
-Months Cardinalli has been in custody: 20
-Amount of judgement Cardinalli won from jail: $4.5 million
-Small claims actions Cardinalli family filed since 1999: 2,200
Source: Santa Clara County court documents
