Ventura County Unlicensed Bail Agent

Deputies arrest Ventura bail bonds office owner, agent

Two people have been arrested in Ventura after authorities received complaints that a bail bonds office was operating illegally and using questionable business practices, sheriff’s deputies said.

Investigators with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said they investigated complaints about Biker Bail Bonds. They said they searched the office as well as the homes of Brian Gooch, owner of the business, and Tracy Ward, who works for Gooch.

Investigators said they found evidence of stolen bail bonds and more than 100 instances in which Ward illegally negotiated and issued bails bonds without a license at the direction of Gooch.

Gooch, 47, is from Santa Barbara and was arrested Dec. 11, according to officials. Ward was arrested Dec. 17 on suspicion of conducting bail transactions without a license.

Both were taken to Ventura County jail and released after posting bail, officials said.

I wonder how long they were conducting business and how many people did they post bail?...Oops. In NC that wouldn't have happened because the Magistrate wants to see your license and they compare it with the electronic bondsman registry.

_________________
Robert J Brown

Bail Bondsman
NPN: 17113240
Holmes Bail Bonding
Johnston County, NC
(919) 376.6661

I doubt that the main issue in this situation was related to license verification. I believe that there were other issues at hand. In California, any bail license can be verified online, using the following links:

Check License Status
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/license-status/

Bail Report for County Clerk Offices Online Services
https://interactive.web.insurance.ca.go ... /index.jsp

_________________
Jason Pollock
Owner/Operator
Surety Risk Management
Los Angeles, California
(323) 786-FIND

"Approach is Everything."

Not all jails verify agents license status. Some of them in the Bay Area require you to have a copy of your license on file with them. Others check each and every time you post a bond.

While other do not ask for anything at all.

I will follow up on this one as the agency involved uses the same surety that I do.

This thread reminds me of when I was writing bail in Nevada. Anybody could deliver a bail bond to the jail. Quite often, bail bond companies would have their clients post the bail bond(s) at the jails. This approach doesn't make for the greatest of customer service, but it did allow the bail agent to continue working uninterrupted. I always posted all of the bail bonds that I wrote because I knew how important customer service was to our clients. This approach also allowed me to correct any mistakes that I might have made in an efficient manner, without inconveniencing any of my clients. I believe that this topic may have something to do with why all of our face sheets had to be notarized. I believed that this procedure provided an additional layer of security, if it was followed properly. The only problem was that this procedure usually wasn't followed properly. The idea was to notarize the face sheet while the bail bond was being written (as it should be); however, most bail bond companies would keep stacks of face sheets that were already notarized (big-time "no-no"). While that approach may have been efficient, it was also illegal. I don't recall anybody ever getting into any trouble over it. The clerks who accepted the bail bonds at the jails would also verify the bail agent's signature on the bail bond(s) with the signature cards that they kept on file at the jails (another layer of security). As far as I'm aware, bail bond face sheets are not notarized here in California.

_________________
Jason Pollock
Owner/Operator
Surety Risk Management
Los Angeles, California
(323) 786-FIND

"Approach is Everything."

I think in CA... you can practice as a brain surgeon without a license... just as long as you know Nancy Pelosi....

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

In CA the face sheets are not notarized but they must have the surety company seal on them, either printed or embossed.

Orange County Jail does not ask for your license but they do have you fill out a form which your license number and name go on. Most other So Cal jails actually want to see your license.

_________________
Tom Duprey
Founding member, NABBI (Nat'l Assoc. of Bail Bond Inv.)
Ca. Bail Agent Lic#1845795
Owner/Operator, Thomas Duprey Bail Bonds
Owner/Operator, Orange County Bounty
(714) 727-4689

It appears that the bail agent, Tracy Ward, had let her license expire but it was reinstated in Feb of this year. So these charges must be for actions that happened before Feb 2013.

As usual, it takes the DOI and LE a long tine to investigate and charge alleged bad actors in the bail bonding business.