Hollister police wrapped up a nearly year-long fraud case
against a Hollister woman accused of cheating customers of
Hillcrest Mini-Storage out of thousands of dollars, and then
stealing their identities in an attempt cover her tracks, according
to police.
Hollister – Hollister police wrapped up a nearly year-long fraud case against a Hollister woman accused of cheating customers of Hillcrest Mini-Storage out of thousands of dollars, and then stealing their identities in an attempt cover her tracks, according to police.
Ridgemark resident Barbara Jean Holguin, 50, faces burglary, forgery and embezzlement charges for allegedly stealing approximately $5,000 from customers of Hillcrest Mini-Storage, according to Hollister Police Detective Rudy Rodriguez.
Holguin, who was fired last December after about nine months of employment when owners discovered her financial indiscretions, was in charge of taking payments for rented storage space and updating the financial records, Rodriguez said.
Holguin would cut customers a deal – as long as they paid in cash. She would then falsify receipts and contracts so she could pocket a portion of the rent, Rodriguez said.
Many customers rented storage space for long periods of time and paid in advance, but Holguin would only record part of the payment for a portion of the time. When payments came due for time that the customer thought had already been paid for, Rodriguez said Holguin would make the payment herself in the customer’s name in an attempt to keep up her alleged scam.
“She would take (the money) from somewhere else, covering her trail as she went along. It was robbing Peter to pay Paul,” he said. “As long as one end was covered, there was other tomfoolery that was going on.”
Making payments in another person’s name is a form of identity theft, Rodriguez said, adding that Holguin even obtained a money order from a local bank in the name of a 72-year-old Hollister man, signed it as him and sent in the payment.
Rodriguez said he hasn’t been able to nail down how Holguin finagled bank personnel into issuing her a money order in another person’s name.
“When I go to the bank I’ve got to flip ID, but she’s a pretty smooth talker,” he said. “Maybe she talked her way into getting it.”
Another incident involved Holguin getting a money order from another local bank in a Hollister woman’s name, signing it as the woman, and personally giving her the money back – in the form of a forged check, he said.
“(The victim) was really upset, to say the least,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a minor issue of, ‘Can you say identity theft?'”
Rodriguez, who conceded the case was convoluted, was also in the dark as to why Holguin would continue to make payments using fraudulent cashiers checks and digging herself into deeper legal troubles, even after she had been fired.
“I think her reasoning was to just keep covering it up,” Rodriguez said. Although Holguin was arrested and booked into the San Benito County Jail last week in lieu of $145,000 bail, she was released for medical reasons, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez attempted to get a statement from Holguin at that time, however she deferred all comments to her attorney, Public Defender Greg La Forge, who was appointed to represent her Tuesday. La Forge was unavailable for comment Thursday.
Although she was arrested for 13 charges including embezzlement, forgery, identity theft and burglary, the District Attorney’s office only charged her with felony burglary and forgery, and misdemeanor embezzlement. District Attorney John Sarsfield did not return phone calls Thursday.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
