12/10/19 9:05:30 AM

King County Sheriff’s Office

516 Third Avenue , Room W-116
Seattle, WA 98104-2312

Shoreline Police Chief Attention: Detective Laura Alsbach

Your lack of investigation of Manny Regalado is glaringly obvious. The added attempt at victim
shaming and the implication that because Manny had performed other small jobs for Whisker City
and on my property meant I gave him permission to destroy my home and embezzle money proves a
lack of critical thinking. Using that premise supposes crime victims must be clairvoyant to prepare for
future harm. Does a store manager who trusts an employee with the store keys give permission to
steal? A trusted nurse administering medication given permission to poison? The accountant who
discovers from an audit she has been bilked to blame for the failed daily oversight? Those
perpetrators would be prosecuted in any other County.

To add insult to injury, you blame a woman targeted by a con, who was caregiving and in deep grief,
simultaneously living in her home destroyed by this illegal contractor and who by this con’s actions
confined to one leaking room for nearly a year is disgraceful. At the age of 67, I am burdened to earn
exorbitant amounts of money for years to recover the damages Manny Regalado purposefully
caused. Your glaring lack of investigation has unleashed on Seattle a known con-man and fraud who
preys on women, the elderly, charities and people in crisis means you are responsible for his actions
from this point forward.

Your investigation by your own demonstration, entailed printing photos of stolen tools and a brief
conversation with the perpetrator. You didn’t acquire video from Home Depot or Dunn Lumber as
you claimed you were doing. You didn’t contact any eyewitness sub-contractors and you easily were
convinced that Manny Regalado and I are friends if not lovers which absolves him of his crimes. It is
common knowledge in fraud cases, that all cons and frauds establish relationships with their marks.
There is zero evidence I have ever been his friend or in a relationship of any kind beyond client. The
notion that he showed you records - that you did not vet - makes him credible is laughable. All cons
and frauds create a trail of believability. Bernie Madoff is a prime example of false record keeping
with a bit of credible documentation sprinkled in to cover his tracks and suppress distrust. The
photos Regalado showed you of my property were part of the trail of believability. He showed me
photos of jobs I later learned were not his to convince me he is a sought after house flipper and 5
Star Brentwood designer. If these were legitimate why aren’t they on his website?

Regalado walked potential victims through my home unannounced as evidence he was a competent
contractor and my friend. He referred to those people as his friends when they were not. He sent
photos of my home – and still sends photos of my home – as evidence of his ability. What people
can’t see is the water pipes he purposely cut through, the dangerously installed breakers and wiring,
the scratched leaking fixtures and gouged floors, the water standing under my home, or the leaking
roof and bad framing. All the text messages between us about what he eats, and buys and gushing
comments – which he initiated to create a friendly response from me - are part of his ruse. Look at
the messages he sends to everyone. They are the same texts, the same comments, and the
friendship baiting is identical.

If you had interviewed even one sub-contractor you would have discovered this is part of his game. If
pretending to be someone’s friend makes it impossible to charge someone then few cases if any kind
could be filed. Regalado does not have the legal right right to make unauthorized charges on my
credit card. There is no law that protects Manny Regalado from operating without a contractor

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license or protects him from the charge of embezzlement just because he’s convinced a “seasoned
detective” that we are friends and he works cheap and his reward for working cheap is he can charge
anything he wants to me and keep all that he charges for himself. He clearly made enough money off
me top buy a $12000 bond, from the coincidental theft of the near $12000 in purchases and returns.

You should know that when victims of construction fraud eventually discover they are in trouble,
they tend to try to get the contractor to fulfill the agreement anyway. Once a house is torn apart,
the victim is trapped and embarrassed and confused about how to resolve the situation. “What if
the next contractor is worse?” “What if my insurer refuses to cover the damage the con man
caused?” Remember this rabidly talkative narcissist was continually planting fear based thoughts. I’m
a classic victim and Manny Regalado is a classic con and now you are one of his victims too. The fact
that you have entirely dismissed his victims in Los Angeles County further demonstrates a lack of
ability and understanding of “modus operandi” and “preponderance of evidence”. You excluded
evidence of similar crimes simply because of county and state borders. Why are you unwilling to
connect the dots or pick up the phone and conduct a proper investigation? You could have been the
detective who stopped Manny Regalado from harming dozens more in Washington State. The
damage to his victims sticks to you now.

I understand why Manny conned me. He entered my life via Whisker City, just like he entered Agi
Hershbergs life in Los Angeles. Her husband died and she started a charity to help people suffering
from the disease that claimed his life. Regalado befriended her with texts, emails, flowers and gifts.
Like me she hated his overbearing personality. She tolerated him half-believing his boasts and lacked
the time to investigate him until he stole tens of thousands of dollars from her. He used the small
jobs he did for her to get to the big job that allowed him to abscond with her money. She sued. She
won. She collected nothing because he has no assets. Before discovery he used the Hirshbergs to get
to more victims by claiming them as a friend. He is still using her name on Youtube as a referrer. She
is a victim. By the way, Agi is my age and attractive and successful and remarried to a physician of
equal standing. I’m sure she would be as insulted as I am by how you handled Manny and how easily
you were conned. Then you foolishly advise me to hire an attorney and arbitrate with a con man?

You believed Manny Regalado was underpaid when I paid him in advance in $3500 payments. He
made you think he was giving me a great deal. He didn’t show up as promised, worked a few hours a
day and lied about the days he worked. He hid his mistakes, improper installations, and theft. I was
gone caregiving four days every two weeks and traveling for business as well. I told you the day my
mother fell and hit her head and became comatose, I was supposed to be in Wenatchee but I was
here waiting for the conman Regalado to show up. He didn’t. I have not heard my mother’s voice
since 9:00 on the morning of September 8. She died 4 and a half days later. Your new friend
Regalado enjoyed inflicting that trauma. Truth be known he had his eyes not only on an insurance
check but a perceived inheritance.

You believe he deserves the gift cards he got for returning supplies without a receipt for clothes,
food, tools and personal items he bought without authorization on my credit cards. You believe he
deserves to buy $100 steaks and $25 drinks with my money. I would not know he did this with my
money if not for his bragging. You think he deserves to dress the part and con others with tools he
doesn’t know how to use and likely has already sold. You talked to the guy for a brief period, and in
that brief period he was able to convince you “he is not a fraud by the legal definition”.

He told you he never sold himself to me as a contractor but “worked for me as a friend and gave me
a deal”. He told the subcontractors he was “doing me a favor and working or free”. He said “we
were dating”. None of this is true. The fact is, Manny Regalado, openly sold himself as a contractor.
He opened a Pro Account at Home Depot and Dunn Lumber as a contractor in 2018. If you spent 30
seconds on line you would find his advertisement on Nextdoor and a Wix website dating back to
when he moved here promoting himself as a contractor. You could have easily obtained the open

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dates on the pro accounts, NextDoor and Wix. I’ve attached his website. See that little line at the
bottom that reads, “2018 by A to Z Contracting Corp Proudly created by Wix.com”? He created this
website promoting himself as a contractor long before I hired him. He didn’t get a license until
August 7, 2019. He was operating as a contractor without a license for a year. Jennifer Williams
shown on the Home Page is not his administrative assistant. The name belongs to the wife of
another guy he’s conning who hasn’t figured out he is a victim. The address is a mailbox on Aurora.

See the Nextdoor advertisement? Note the dates of the references as early as June which means
those jobs were done some time before they were posted. I talked to two of those people. You
didn’t. He was unlicensed until August 2019 and promoting himself as a contractor from the day he
sat foot on Washington soil. Now explain to me why I should have not believed he was a licensed
contractor? Then explain to me where the evidence is that I ever dated or physically touched this
man?

It is clear that you and other members of the Shoreline Police and King County Sheriff’s department
have reasons for not conducting thorough investigations. Manny Regalado has boldly and brazenly
operated as an unlicensed contractor, an electrician and plumber, and you have given him the stamp
of approval to continue.

You were conned just like me. I had zero information on Regalado. I didn’t know he made the hole in
my roof or that I was being setup. Had I known one hundredth of what I’ve learned, I would not
know Regalado or you today. On the other hand, you are supposedly a trained fraud investigator.
From the statements you made during our final discussion, it is obvious he’s a better con than you
are a detective.

April Brown
1620 N. 183rd Street
Shoreline, WA 98133
206.235.4697
auctions@aprilbrown.com