An air conditioning repair company owner was arrested Tuesday and charged with taking $200,000 from a health care facility in Hillsborough County.
Gavin Vasquez is the owner of Appliance Tech Solutions and was hired by Cove Behavioral Health to order parts and begin the project to help repair its air conditioning, according to information released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He asked them for $238,920. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Vasquez continuously made excuses as to why the parts were never ordered for the job.
“This is the kind of fraud, this is the kind of stuff that happens a lot of times because work isn’t getting done or electronically,” said Marco Villarreal, public relations coordinator. “So these detectives are trained and they know exactly how to build a case and find exactly what’s going on when someone is trying to cheat another person or another company out of money”
Sheriff crime detectives investigated and found enough evidence to find probable cause. Charging him with a 1st degree felony of grand theft auto over $100,000.
“Here in Hillsborough County, we believe in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister in a news release. “It appears that Mr. Vasquez had plenty of opportunities in the last two years to be honest and do the job he was hired to do. Instead, our smart and very capable detectives in the Economic Crimes Section got involved, and put an end to his fraudulent activity.”
If you are a victim or know someone who was victimized, the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office is asking you to call it at (813)-247-8200.
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Anchor: Alice Barlow
Producer: Haley Zarcone
Reporters: Christopher Zingale, Haley Zarcone, Aziz Turner
Teleprompter: Christopher Zingale
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