It’s been a rough few weeks for Chula Vista Fast Pitch.
The fake charity raked in roughly $3.8 million by operating concession stands at Petco Park and Snapdragon Stadium, while pretending to support girls softball in Chula Vista with the money.
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday he is suing the ringleaders of the scheme to try to recover the money.
Bonta’s lawsuit comes just weeks after federal prosecutors announced that Martin Rebollo and Noly Ilarde, the two ringleaders of the scam, pleaded guilty to conspiracy wire fraud.
The lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to misappropriate charitable funds, unjust enrichment and fraud among other charges.
Here’s the interesting thing: The lawsuit also names four new alleged co-conspirators. Among them is Hugo Muñoz Flores, a man Voice of San Diego previously reported on.
After Voice first revealed the Chula Vista Fast Pitch scam in August 2023, Petco Park’s concessionaire Delaware North immediately kicked the group out of the stadium. A couple months later, two men who had worked with Chula Vista Fast Pitch, including Muñoz, started a new charity. The new charity was called Greek Life Aid. Following the downfall of Chula Vista Fast Pitch, Greek Life Aid started providing staffing for concession stands in Petco.
The group’s charitable mission, however, was unclear, as I reported in October 2024.
Muñoz and Sebastián Pineda, Greek Life Aid’s other founder, spoke to me briefly at a game around the same time. They both confirmed they previously worked for Chula Vista Fast Pitch. Pineda promised he would talk with me more after the game and provide evidence of Greek Life Aid’s charitable activities. Pineda, nor Muñoz, never provided that evidence.
A mission statement posted online at the time claimed the group’s mission was to “support college students in achieving their education and personal goals by operating concession stands that generate financial donations for student organizations in San Diego, CA.”
I reached out to all the public colleges and universities in San Diego County at the time. None had any record of Greek Life Aid’s giving or its campus activities.
The lawsuit also names Melinda Avestruv, Dolores M. Rodriguez and Grace I. Gonzalez as alleged co-conspirators. Avestruv is Ilarde’s wife and Gonzalez is his sister, according to the lawsuit.
The four newly-newly named participants allegedly profited far less than Ilarde and Rebollo, who racked in more than $1 million and $2 million respectively, according to the lawsuit.
Muñoz received at least $37,000; Avestruv received at least $60,000; Rodriguez received at least $131,000; and Gonzalez received at least $39,000, according to the lawsuit.
The current status of Greek Life Aid is unclear, but the lawsuit asks the court to permanently block any of the alleged conspirators from operating a California charity in the future.
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