JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – ASAP Towing and Storage President Vince Serrano, who was the subject of a long-term I-TEAM investigation, pleaded not guilty Monday to felony counts of grand theft and organized fraud.
Serrano’s arraignment had been scheduled for last week but was postponed.
WATCH: Press play above to watch a replay of Monday’s short court hearing
An arrest warrant for Serrano shows investigators believe he defrauded Floridians of nearly $194,000 by underreporting the sales prices of unclaimed vehicles while overinflating ASAP’s costs to tow, store, and sell them.
Serrano’s charges are grand theft of more than $100,000 and organized fraud relating to property worth at least $50,000.
He will be back in court on March 19 and could face 21 months to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The state told the court it would consider a plea bargain with Serrano but that the agreement would have to include restitution of up to $180,000.
The alleged scheme centers around cars ASAP towed and then sold when their owners couldn’t be found. When a towing company sells an unclaimed car, they’re only allowed to keep what it costs them to tow, store, and sell the vehicle. Any overages must be posted to the Clerk of Court so the owner can recoup those funds.
JSO investigators claim Serrano was underreporting sale amounts and keeping the difference, as well as “double dipping” on fees, creating a “windfall.”
Soon after the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office raided the four locations of ASAP Towing and Storage last July, Serrano told the I-TEAM that ASAP is a $10 million business when it comes to revenue.
Now investigators say he’s been cooking the books in a fraud scheme that goes back years.
MORE | JSO recovered $253,000 owed to clerk of court from towing companies following 2023 audit: incident report | ASAP Towing was permanently banned from JSO use following discovery of $181,000 in late payments
Serrano turned himself in at the Duval County jail in November and was released that day on his own recognizance.
The warrant shows investigators reviewed all of ASAP’s sales documents filed from 2020 to 2024.
A letter from JSO obtained by the I-TEAM revealed that ASAP Towing was permanently banned from JSO use in January 2024 after an audit found the company failed to report tens of thousands of dollars as required by state law.
According to investigators, JSO compared files showing discrepancies between the sales prices ASAP reported and the bills of sales, with ASAP underreporting what buyers actually paid. The warrant also says ASAP fraudulently inflated their costs with phony deductions.
In one 2022 sale cited on the warrant, ASAP reported the vehicle as selling for $7,700, when it actually sold for $8,855. ASAP listed $1,155 of deductions related to the sale, while also listing another deduction for buyer’s and key fees for the same amount.
Investigators said the deductions are inflated. The numbers on the warrant indicate ASAP pocketed $2,310 more than they should have in that sale.
The warrant said investigators reviewed Report of Sales documents for 255 transactions from 2020 to 2024, and in all by three, the Bills of Sales supported fraud.
The warrant goes on to say: “Investigators determined that the [Serrano] fraudulently signed and filed 216 of these Report of Sales documents with the Clerk of the Circuit Court.”
Additionally, investigators say they reviewed five current ASAP employees and one former employee, with the former employee reporting Serrano “ordered her to underreport the sale amount and to deduct another buyer’s fee and key fee under the ‘other’ section of the Report of Sale document,” and “told her to make an example form for all offices to follow.”
According to the warrant, the investigation began with an audit in October 2023 that JSO did on all the towing companies it used. It was during that, the warrant says, they discovered ASAP had underreported the actual sale price of one vehicle, and then they dug deeper and reportedly found that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Serrano told News4JAX that he had not done anything wrong and that JSO was investigating him in retaliation for a lawsuit he filed against the agency for banning ASAP from its operators' list.