Salinas restaurant owner charged with fraud and illegal alcohol sales

Salinas restaurant owner Fernando Jimenez Hernandez, owner of Tacos Acambaro in Salinas, pled no contest to three felony charges against him in two different cases.

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office says the charges are related to insurance and payroll tax fraud and one misdemeanour charge for failing to have workers’ compensation insurance.

He also pled no contest to one misdemeanor charge for serving alcohol to a minor with resulting great bodily injury.

After the death of 20-year-old Abraham Requena on January 30th of 2017, the DA’s office opened a criminal investigation of Tacos Acambaro.

The DA’s office says witnesses and security video show 20-year-old Requena was drinking inside the restaurant.

According to the DA, neither Hernandez or his staff asked for Requena’s I.D.

Abraham Requena died after he lost control of his car, crashing into a tree on Boronda Road. Autopsy results showed a .27 blood alchohol level, that’s nearly three times the legal limit.

Requna’s mother, Veronica, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tacos Acambaro and another Salinas restaurant Abraham was said to be at prior.

During the investigation, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) suspended Tacos Acambaro’s alcoholic beverage license for 30 days in late January of 2018.

The District Attorney also investigated Hernandez’s business operations.

District Attorney investigators found that he didn’t have workers’ compensation coverage and did not accurately report his employee wages and payroll to the Employment Development Department.

Hernandez will be sentenced on August 16, 2019 and faces a minimum of 180 days in jail and will be placed on formal supervised probation.