SATURDAY JANUARY 8, 2011

VOLUME 5 NO. 2

CREDIT CARD SCANDAL GROWS

 On Thursday morning, at 7:00 
a.m., city officials held a press conference 
on the status of the current 
EVG scandal. At that time, it was 
announced that the Secret Service 
and Treasury Department will assist 
with the investigation. Mayor 
Mosca and Chief Diaz (left) announced 
at the conference that the 
number of thefts that had been reported 
was 282 with over $82,000 
on monetary losses.

 But, by Saturday morning, that 
figure had increased to over 300 
victims and the losses were over 
$100,000.

 According to Chief Diaz, this is 
the largest number of individuals 
victimized by one crime in Sierra 
Madre. 

 There are six financial institutions 
involved: Chase, Wells Fargo, 
Bank of America, Bank of the West, 
American Express and Citibank.

 Most accounts were only hit once, 
however, there were several accounts 
that were hit between two 
and nine times.

 The largest individual loss was 
$3,700. Of the victims, 78% of them 
are Sierra Madre residents.

 Several of the financial institutions 
automatically canceled the 
credit cards and issued new ones as 
soon as they became aware of the 
situation. One resident reported 
that although she had not been a 
victim of the fraud, because she had 
made a single purchase at EVG over 
the summer, they were sending her 
a new card just to be safe.

 Pam Cimino, was hit with a $500 
withdrawal made in Calabasas. The 
withdrawal immediately caught 
the attention of her husband and 
a friend joked, “He thought you’d 
gone Prada on him”, suggesting that 
the husband thought the wife was 
on a shopping spree.

 Chief Diaz and the entire police 
department have been busy interviewing 
victims and searching for 
the suspects. At the press conference, 
Diaz said there were now 
three suspects, one of whom is Evgeny 
Yakimenko, a Russian who purchased 
the station a year ago. Diaz 
also noted that the investigation 
did include the Valero station but 
said that the owners of the Valero 
station were cooperating with the 
department.

 Last week, Diaz made a presentation 
to the Sierra Madre Kiwanis 
Club and to the Senior Community 
briefing them on the status of the 
investigation. She reviewed many 
of the ways in which thieves steal 
your identity and what one can do 
to protect themselves.

 The notoriety of this crime has 
had Sierra Madre on all the major 
network news shows. TV cameras 
were spotted in town numerous 
times during the week. Although 
outside agencies will be assisting 
with the investigation, the Sierra 
Madre Police Department is who 
residents should contact if they find 
their identities have been compromised. 
S. Henderson/MVNews


Although this is the largest 
number of victims reported in 
one crime, it is not the largest 
property loss. Here is the totalvalue 
of all property reported 
stolen in Sierra Madre for the 
last eight years.

2002 - $283.192

2003 - $237,444

2004 - $590,084

2005 - $557,362

2006 - $569,957

2007 - $999,063*

2008 - $213,536

2009 - $300,706

*The 2007 figure included a 
house that had been taken by 
trickery.

Police Chief Urges EVG 
Victims to Report Fraud

 

Sierra Madre Police Chief Marilyn Diaz is urging victims of the EVG 
gas station fraud to report the crime to the Police Department. The 
fraudulent charges arising from credit and debit cards used at the EVG 
station are showing up both as EVG charges and charges to other retail 
establishments, both in California and out of state. Anyone who has 
used a credit or debit card at EVG in the past 12 months should report 
any fraudulent charges to Sierra Madre police.

Some victims have dealt only with their banks to reconcile the fraudulent 
charges, and opted not to report the crime to police. It is critically 
important to report as many fraud cases as possible. The greater number 
of victims, and the higher the loss, increases the chances of a successful 
prosecution if the suspects are identified and arrested. 

As of Saturday, January 8, 2011, over 360 victims have been identified, 
and the loss exceeds $100,000. Victims can report fraud at the Sierra 
Madre police station at their convenience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 
The police will process reports promptly. For more information call 
(626) 355-1414.

A HAPPY, GRAND RE-OPENING


DETECTIVES NEED YOUR HELP 
IDENTIFYING THIS SUBJECT


There were smiles all around at the ribbon cutting for the renovated Sierra Madre room. Councilperson 
MacGillivray (center) was exceptionally pleased with the new bathrooms and kitchen.

 At a time when dealing with the 
disturbing news of the EVG scam 
and on the heels of concerns over 
the city’s hillsides and debris basins, 
city officials and staff have had little 
time for anything else. 

 However, on Friday evening, there 
was an opportunity to celebrate 
the re-opening of the Sierra Madre 
Room at the Recreation Center.

 After months of construction activity, 
Mayor Joe Mosca and Former 
Mayor Mary Ann MacGillivray cut 
the ribbon for the new facility.

 Members of the City Council and 
Community Services Commission, 
along with approximately 75 
residents were on hand to tour the 
renovated room.

 The improvements include a completely 
new hardwood floor, new 
bathrooms (something longtime 
residents who saw them were elated 
about), and a brand new kitchen 
complete with new appliances.

 The new room also has a ‘state of 
the art’ method of distributing heat 
and air conditioning to the room. 
The old fashioned ceiling pipe that 
ran the length of the room from the 
ceiling and was immovable, was replaced 
with a synthetic, pipe that 
collaspes into a decorative hanging 
object when the heat or a/c are not 
on. This new, flexible, “pipe thingy”, 
as one resident called it, also cannot 
be dented by flying objects, etc.

 For more information on the 
availabity of the room for events 
and/or meetings, please contact the 
Community and Personnel Services 
Department at 626-355-5278.

The Sierra Madre Police Department have issued a Crime Bulletin as 
part of their investigation into the EVG credit card scandal. The subject 
pictured above was photographed withdrawing funds from the victim’s 
account in the City of Montebello.

 If you recognize this person or have any other information related to 
this case, please contact Detective Gene Gray at (626) 355-7534 or via 
email at ggray@cityofsierramadre.com.


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