By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
The City of San Benito Code Enforcement Department is warning local business owners to be on the lookout for individuals who are posing as health inspectors and charging monetary fees up front.
According the Health Inspector Steve Estrada, there have been two confirmed cases of fraudulent health inspectors reported since he took the job in December. For Code Enforcement Director John Rodriguez, this is the first time he has seen anything of this nature in his six years working for the city.
“We have made a report with the police department, and we are hoping to have a press release from the police department within the next two days,” John Rodriguez said on Thursday. “The whole gist of it is that we’re getting an individual that claims to be a health inspector, identifying himself as a health inspector for the City of San Benito, and requests a fee of exactly $141.”
According to Estrada, the two restaurants that were visited by the impostor are Los Mismos and Whataburger, but he explained that neither store paid the money requested.
“An incident report was taken, so it’s in the hands of the police department right now,” said Assistant City Manager Art Rodriguez. “We never do collections on site, so any monetary collection that is requested on site will be illegal.”
Art Rodriguez further explained that the only days that Code Enforcement officers conduct health inspections are on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. In addition, Art Rodriguez noted that the activity may have been prompted by an increased Code Enforcement presence in the city.
When asked what restaurant owners and managers should do if they suspect they are being visited by someone posing as a health inspector, John Rodriguez offered a few tips.
“Restaurant owners and managers should be aware that when someone is asking them for cash on hand for payment of services, we don’t do that,” John Rodriguez said. “We’re either going to have nametags or certified badges. We have our shirts that signify that we’re with the City of San Benito.”
“They can also contact us at (956) 361-3800, and they can verify the employment status just to make sure that the individual is employed with the City of San Benito,” John Rodriguez added. “We’re going to make some modifications with our identifications, but the first clue should be that they’re asking for money on hand – just that – in and of itself – we do not do.”
John Rodriguez also emphasized that Estrada is the only individual who does inspections within the city.
“There is only one individual that does health inspections, and that is Steve Estrada,” said Rodriguez. “We’re not going to stray from that, we’re not going to throw in alternates. He is the individual that they will be seeing. If they don’t see him, then that should be a red flag.”
Meanwhile, the San Benito Police Department continues to investigate the situation.
“So far, the two businesses who came forward gave us some descriptions of the suspects,” said SBPD Assistant Chief of Operations Michael Galvan. “It pretty much sounds like it’s the same person going around and trying to tell people that they will close down the restaurant if they don’t pay the fees.”
Galvan also said that such occurrences do not happen often in San Benito.
“The fact that it’s happening here is kind of a shocker,” said Galvan. “We’re such a tight-knit community that we know the city employees, and for someone to come in and say that they are a Code Enforcement director and try to get away with it is kind of shocking.”
Read this story in the March 3 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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