aprilbrowninvestigations

[aprilbrowninvestigations]

NEXTDOOR — SAFE? THINK AGAIN!

Nextdoor — hunting ground for criminals & conmen.

Contrary to Nextdoor marketing the online community as a “safe place to share information about crime and neighborhood activities”, the community has become a hunting ground for criminals. The notion Nextdoor is a private social network for you, your neighbors, and your community is false. Anybody can advertise and anybody can view your posts and profile you.

Nextdoor boasts -“Over 90% of US neighborhoods use Nextdoor to get recommendations, help find lost pets, receive safety alerts, and much more”.It’s the “much more”, Nextdoor doesn’t tell you about that is alarming.

I was recently victimized by a conman Manny Regalado AKA Manny Leon Regalado II. He has a current and active advertisement on Nextdoor as a handyman/remodeler under A to Z Contracting Corp. The Nextdoor ad links to a website enticing seniors, women and charities, offering services at a discounted rate. I am not a regular Nextdoor user, and joined to help reunite pets brought in to the animal shelter I founded over 30 years ago. Whisker City is located in Shoreline, Washington and serves King County. One of our volunteers found Regalado’s Nextdoor ad and used him for a small job. While he was working on her house he made a point of endearing himself to her neighbors. By the time she recognized his shoddy workmanship, he had started small jobs for a couple of those neighbors. She was too embarrassed to warn others or share her story at Whisker City. I was his next victim.

Regalado is a hardened criminal. Once he selects his victim, he infiltrates their space and minds with overly friendly and inappropriate comments and conduct. He weaves stories of wealth and celebrity and talks endlessly about himself and achievements, all convincingly fabricated. I’ve spoken to many of his victims and we all share the same observations. Like myself, they never liked the guy and he made them feel uncomfortable. When Regalado is caught in a lie he claims the listener misunderstood or forgot what he said. When flawed workmanship is pointed out he blames the sub-contractors or offers to come back and fix the mistake. If and when he returns minus the sub-contractors, his lack of skill is revealed and he causes more damage. When I complained about the leaks on the bathtubs and faucets he used pliers against the chrome fixtures and tightened against the chrome without protection, severely scarring fixtures. He yelled at me, “why didn’t you tell me these needed new washers?” All the plumbing and fixtures have to be replaced by the new contractor.

Best advice — Trust Your Gut

His victims all share the gut feeling “there is something wrong with this guy”. In my case he bought gifts of flowers and wine and played romantic music on his boom box. When I asked him to stop he would talk about how he only dated older women. I and uses terms like “friend” and “nothing but love”. He brags about spending $200 on dinner for himself and the daily massages he deserves. He makes a point of knowing your neighbors, employees and anyone who comes on premises. Many times I wanted to get rid of him and pointed out his annoying behavior directly to him. He would employ a childlike voice, tucking his head with an upward gaze begging “pity me”. While working with homeowners in Los Angeles, he pretended to be a 5 Star Brentwood Designer, switching gender identity to win over targets. He was able to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from friends, associates, charities, subcontractors and suppliers. Eleven judgments are recorded in Los Angeles County against Manny Regalado. He is now in King County roiling through Shoreline unchecked.

There is no doubt, Manny Regalado is a predator and passes writer, Carolyn Stebers summation of how to recognize a sociopath. He avoids arrest primarily because law enforcement is ill equipped to deal with embezzlement, construction and insurance fraud. I filed a police report on Saturday, October 12, 2019, case # c19039144 with King County Sheriff’s office. Today, nine days later I received an email a detective has finally been assigned my case. Fortunately, for this detective, I’ve already done the work. I compiled the credit card charges of nearly $6000 in purchases Regalado embezzled along with nearly $6000 in Home Depot store cards he got with items returned without receipts from materials purchased for my job. I met with his landlord and discovered he has not paid rent in four months and his garage is filled with many of the tools he purchased on my cards. He was observed on Sunday, October 20, 7:30 AM loading his truck from that garage housing my tools, most likely heading to the home of another victim he gleaned from his Nextdoor advertisement.

Back to the dangers of Nextdoor. Two weeks ago, after I discovered Regalado’s embezzlement and damage to my home, I posted my entire story on Nextdoor. Neighbors thanked me and shared by post. A Nextdoor administrator disabled my account for violating community standards. I created another account and this time listed a website with all the information I had discovered about Regalado. Nextdoor cancelled that account for self- promotion and violating the rules. I messaged the CEO Sarah Friar from Linkedin essentially begging her to disable his ad. Still no response. Good on ya, Sarah.

Manny Regalado is at large in Shoreline, Washington appears to be unstoppable. Will you be next?

RCW

10.37.110

Larceny or embezzlement — Specification.

In an indictment or information for larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable securities, or for a conspiracy to cheat or defraud a person of any such property, it is sufficient to allege the larceny or embezzlement, or the conspiracy to cheat and defraud, to be of money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable securities, without specifying the coin, number, denomination or kind thereof.

[ 1891 c 28 § 38; Code 1881 § 1023; RRS § 2074.]

NOTES:

Larceny: Chapter 9A.56 RCW.

Ownership of property, proof of: RCW 10.58.060.

[aprilbrowninvestigations]

Victim of Contractor Fraud? Read this!

April Brown Auctioneer

Oct 19

· 4 min read

If your home has been damaged in a natural disaster, then you know what it means to be displaced and depressed and financially compromised. Matters become far worse if you have the misfortune of being victimized by an unscrupulous contractor. It happened to me and my story is far more common than people realize. The contractor I hired deliberately caused excessive damage with the intention of increasing the insurance claim and causing psychological dependence. After talking with my banker, Tori Scott at Key Bank and my insurance agent, Rod Ronquillo with Allstate, the contractor I hired and the trauma I’m still swimming on happens with such regularity that both believe fraudulent contractors are more common than not. We surmised fraud may occur in over 50% of all remodeling and repairs performed.

The contractor I hired advertises on Nextdoor — still — even though I was persistent in asking that his ad be removed. I emailed Nesxdoor’s Meridian Park lead repeatedly complaining. To date the ad remains on Nextdoor. To my dismay, Regalado posted photos of my home and the charity I founded, Whisker City as references. I’ve never referred him to anyone. Nextdoor responded by suspending my account for violating community standards. I opened a second account hoping for further investigation, that account was suspended for the same reasons. I wrote to the CEO, Sarah Friar today and I’m not hopeful she will respond fairly either. I’ve since discovered others who hired this contractor based on the Nextdoor Advertisement.

I’ve come to the conclusion nobody cares. Washington State Department of Licensing gave the company a license. All the owner had to do is put up $12,000. A victim must file a civil suit in the Superior Court of King County in order to make a valid bond claim. I’ve called several local attorneys and each asked for the same $5000 retainer. I plan on filing pro se. I was shocked to discover that contractors can leave dozens of victims in one State and open up a business in another State without their fraudulent history following them. The owner of A to Z Contracting Corp operated in Los Angeles County as MR Interior Design. Manny Regalado, has eleven unpaid judgments totaling over a million dollars. When I told the licensing clerk what I found, she cut me off as soon as I uttered the words “Los Angeles” with “Los Angeles, that’s not our problem, we don’t do background checks”. She also told me that Contractor Fraud is a civil matter. So please tell me what the point of licensing contractors?

I’ve contacted four of the attorneys who won judgments against Regalado in the Los Angeles cases. The stories are heartbreaking. Regalado targets charities offering free or cheap handyman work while boasting he is retired and independently wealthy. Nearly 100% of every story he told us was false. He said many many times that he came to Seattle because he “just wants to help people and make friends”. He creates false friendships and name drops. He boasts about having worked on television home improvement shows and talks about awards he’s won on HOUZZ and Porch.com. He is overly friendly and charming and patient until he finds the perfect target. I am his first victim in King County. There are others now. Carolyn Steber, wrote an article perfectly describing the ways, Regalado used to infiltrate my home and our minds - “13 Common Mind Games Sociopaths Play In Everyday Life To Watch Out For”.

It appears there will be no accountability by conventional means. Law enforcement considers contractor fraud a civil matter when in fact, the destruction is every bit as horrific as arson or robbery. Contractor property damage is not easily repaired leaving a house unsalable and even unlivable. Resolving the issues can mean a near complete tear-out of the work and the complete loss of expensive materials and labor. Regalado created a design that did not meet code, as an example one set up steps is 8.5 inches and 9.5 inches and are awkwardly located. The steps will have to be completely removed, rebuilt and new hardwoods installed. I created a website with “Before Regalado” and “After Regalado” the destruction.

Although frustrated with the Shoreline Police Department and disappointed that government agencies do nothing to protect the citizenry, I’m not going to sit back and do nothing. I have a webpage www.aprilbrown.com/manny-regalado-construction-fraud and I am populating it with all the information and victim stories I find. I’ve filed a police report hoping he will be charged with embezzlement for the nearly $11,000 in unauthorized charges for tools, food and items he bought for himself. Even crooks have to pay taxes, and the Internal Revenue Service wants theirs so I, along with other victims are filing the payments we’ve made to him with the IRS. He has four children and may be Los Angeles County Child Support Enforcement is looking for him. I also talked to local hardware stores. While notifying Home Depot and Dunn Lumber I discovered he put my name and credit card on those accounts. My name now removed, they now have my story. I’ve contacted all the sub-contractors and told them my experience and they shared theirs. They pegged Regalado right away and one by one they dropped away. I often over-heard arguments. He had a story for the subs too. He told them he was working for free and that I was his girlfriend, despite the 30 year age difference. The contractors assumed I knew him intimately so they kept their mouth shut. The drywall contractor told me his boss said, “he’s going to take her for every dime she has”.

This story is not over. I want justice and I want to prevent this company from harming others. He targets seniors, charities and low income, the very people who do not have the resources to fight back. This is unacceptable.

[aprilbrowninvestigations]

Whisker City was founded by April Brown in 1995 as an effort to help abused and neglected animals. The shelter is part of Blue Sky Charities, a non-profit 501-c-3 organization that focuses on helping both homeless people and homeless pets.

Whisker City is located in Shoreline and housed in a pair of rental properties owned by April and her husband Mike. They’ve placed over 1400 cats in homes in the area.

[aprilbrowninvestigations]

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