CALIFORNIA FRAUD
In California, a cause of action for fraud can arise when a party misrepresents material facts, makes false promises, or otherwise deceives another party with the intention of depriving them of their money, property, and/or rights. Fraud and deceit are generally defined in California Civil Code Sections 1572, 1709, and 1710. Following are the types of fraud claims permitted under California law.
Intentional Misrepresentation
Intentional misrepresentation occurs when a party intentionally convinces another party to rely on false assertions of fact, which the other party reasonably relies on and sustains damages therefrom.
Negligent Misrepresentation
A party makes a false statement of fact to another party, with no reasonable basis for believing the statement is true (as determined by a judge or jury), even if the party making the statement believes it is true.
The party making the false statement intended that the other party rely on the misrepresentation of fact.
The other party did reasonably rely on the false statement, which was a substantial factor in causing harm to them.
The other party suffered damages as an actual and proximate result of the negligent misrepresentation.
Concealment
A party had a fiduciary relationship with another party, which imposed a duty to disclose facts, but the party did not disclose such facts. Such fiduciary relationships are imposed by law upon business partners, trustees, licensed professionals and others.
The party accused of concealment either:
Intentionally failed to disclose certain facts;
Disclosed some facts but failed to disclose other facts, making the disclosure deceptive
Intentionally failed to disclose certain facts that were known only to the concealing party, and that the other party could not have discovered;
Prevented the other party from discovering certain facts.
In failing to disclose certain facts, the concealing party intended to deceive the other party.
The other party was not aware of the concealed facts, and had they been aware, they reasonably would have behaved differently.
The other party suffered harm and the concealment was a substantial factor in causing such harm.
False Promise
A party makes a promise which they do not intend to perform at the time they make the promise.
The party making the promise intended that the other party would rely on the promise, and the other party did, in fact, reasonably rely on the promise.
The party making the promise does not fulfill that promise.
The other party suffered harm and the false statement was a substantial factor in causing such harm.
DIMASSA FRAUD & PERJURY
Critical documents are below in the RED section
Page from sworn deposition testimony of fraudulent American Red Cross representative Andrew Cervantes hired by the DiMassa family to provide fraudulent certifications.
Page from sworn deposition testimony of Summerkids co-owner Cara DiMassa who lied under oath by falsely stating she never knew American Red Cross requirements.
Email exchange between Summerkids co-owner Cara DiMassa and her American Red Cross rep who clearly defined certification requirements that DiMassa wholly disregarded.
Summerkids owners, the DiMassa family, systematically orchestrated a fraud scheme to apparently save money at the risk of jeopardizing child’s lives. That fraud led to Roxie’s death.
Instead of abiding by American Red Cross training standards, the DiMassas, namely Cara and her father Joseph (aka Cowboy Joe), paid a Red Cross representative named Andrew Cervantes a fraction of the normal rate to certify Summerkids counselors as Lifeguards and Water Safety Instructors without providing requisite training or any testing.
In turn, the DiMassas aggressively promoted these fraudulent Lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor services to lure families to their facility and apparently earn extra income from their early childhood programs, which included Water Safety Instruction for children ages 3-4.
American Red Cross lifeguard training requires at least 26.5 hours of in-pool and in-classroom training. Certification also requires rigorous pool testing and a written test score of 80 or better. Water Safety Instructor training requires at least 30 hours of pool and classroom testing and training.
The DiMassas did not provide that training or testing, yet they facilitated fraudulent certifications for upwards of 100 staff members at a greatly reduced fee paid to their fraudulent American Red Cross representative, Cervantes. The Red Cross itself did nothing to prevent this scheme, despite possessing records that showed improprieties.
The DiMassas also saved thousands of dollars in payroll by orchestrating this fraud scheme. Instead of paying counselors their regular hourly rate while they were supposed to properly train them in Lifeguarding and Water Safety Instruction, the DiMassas paid these counselors a reduced training rate. Also, by eliminating requisite American Red Cross training time, the DiMassas reduced the amount of hours they paid the counselors overall.
RESULT: Fraudulent lifeguards and water safety instructors put children at severe risk and wound up killing a 6-year-old girl, apparently because the DiMassa family pocketed an extra few thousand dollars.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE ON THE FRAUD SCHEMES.
LIFEGUARD & WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTOR CERTIFCATION FRAUD
Download / view both of the following documents side-by-side. The Word document explains the fraud and perjury while the corresponding PDF pages serve as proof.
WORD DOCUMENT
PDF REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
In an effort to prove that the DiMassas eliminated all proper American Red Cross training and testing to save money at the expense of jeopardizing children’s lives, we compared what they spent on their fraudulent certification scheme compared to what is standard pricing.
American Red Cross Suggested Fees — $350 for Lifeguarding, $300 for Water Safety Instructor
What the DiMassas paid — $100 Lifeguarding, $125 Water Safety Instructor per participant (Ignore the ARC fee)
Fees in Redondo Beach, CA — $250 per participant (Lifeguarding)
Fees in Chicago, IL — $300 per participant (Lifeguarding)
Fees in Central, NJ — $360 per participant (Lifeguarding)
Fees in Dallas, TX — $260 per participant (Lifeguarding)
Fees in Miami, FL — $250 per participant (Lifeguarding)
CPR FRAUD
Cara DiMassa said she paid Trevor Boreham to certify her and staff members in CPR/First Aid/AED. Boreham is a Riverside firefighter who owns/operates a CPR certification business named Life Saving Certified. Boreham also has a child who attends Summerkids. According to documents and deposition testimony from DiMassa and her then assistant director Jaimi Harrison, Boreham provided them and Summerkids staff with a total of 3-3.5 hours of instruction, roughly half the training requirement, according to the American Heart Association. DiMassa and Harrison never said they participated in the mandatory classroom training/testing portion or required their staff to do so. Also, Boreham approved all of these Summerkids staffers in Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED, which is a separate course with two modules that require another 5-9 hours, depending upon the instruction option.
CLICK FOR DOCUMENT #1: Pages 1-12 show how DiMassa and Harrison admit, under oath, that Boreham’s training did not meet AHA requirements. Page 13 is an email Boreham sent to DiMassa saying he would get the 13 Summerkids CPR trainees, including DiMassa and Harrison, “out quick” in their training. Page 14 shows Harrison’s fraudulent certification card and how Boreham included Pediatric modules without Harrison taking the separate course. Page 15 shows a comparison card issued to a local Pasadena recipient where one of the modules is crossed out because the recipient did not complete it.
American Heart Association requirements for First Aid/CPR/AED training.
American Heart Association requirements for Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED training.
BUSINESS FRAUD
Copy.