OXNARD : Suit Accuses Gas Station of Fraud

The Ventura County district attorney has accused the former owner of a Mobil gas station in Oxnard of defrauding an estimated 65,000 customers by substituting cheap gasoline for an advertised brand, according to a suit filed Wednesday.

The district attorney’s consumer protection division filed a civil complaint against Jon Chris Inc., which owned the Mobil station at 2441 Vineyard Ave., accusing the company of mislabeling gasoline for 17 months before discontinuing the practice.

The civil complaint also names the station’s former manager, Michael H. Goldberg, and P.D.G. Service Oil Co., the firm that sold the station the cheap gasoline.

The former owner stopped the practice in March, 1990, after a complaint by an ex-employee triggered an investigation, Deputy Dist. Atty. David Fairweather said. The station was sold in January to a new owner who Fairweather said is not involved in any wrongdoing.

Fairweather said investigators uncovered evidence of fraud in interviews with employees, audits of the owner’s books and tests of the station’s gasoline by the Department of Weights and Measures.

According to the complaint, the station’s owners started buying shipments of inexpensive gasoline in November, 1988. “One day he might get a shipment of Brand X and the next day get a shipment of Mobil gasoline, and then mix the two,” Fairweather said.

The station sold the cheap mixture as Mobil super unleaded and Mobil regular leaded gasoline, the suit alleges.

Fairweather estimated that an average customer paid $1 more for each 10-gallon tank of gas purchased at the station. During the 17 months, the station “was doing a good business, selling upwards of 5,000 gallons of gasoline a day,” he said.

The station’s former owner and manager could not be reached for comment.