On Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021, at 11:00 am, Turlock Police detectives arrested Miguel Perez, 37, of Ceres, in the 2600 block of Roeding Rd, Ceres, for his involvement in two separate rental fraud cases that occurred here in Turlock.

In June 2021, the Turlock Police Department took two reports with similar circumstances involving Spanish speaking victims who found rental properties on Facebook Marketplace and then lost approximately $2,000 each due to fraud. The victims met with the listed contact person, Perez, gave him cash deposits and first month’s rent, and then were unable to locate or contact Perez to gain access to the listed properties that they thought they were going to move into.

Detective Frank Navarro was assigned to the case and he discovered that Perez is also the suspect in additional similar cases in San Joaquin and Monterey counties.

Perez was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of theft under false pretenses, for his involvement in the Turlock cases.

Detectives suspect that Perez might be responsible for additional unreported fraud crimes. Perez frequents Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Solano counties and may have additional victims in these areas.

The investigation remains on-going. Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to call Detective Frank Navarro at 209-664-7319.