SAN ANTONIO – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has charged a San Antonio woman with providing fraudulent first aid certification cards to persons seeking employment at child care facilities. Under state law, employees at child care facilities must be certified in first aid. The state’s enforcement action charges Maria L. Olivarri with selling fraudulent first aid certification cards to persons who lack the required training.
According to state investigators, Olivarri, whose place of business is located at 2339 Vance Jackson, falsely claimed that she is authorized by the American Red Cross to provide first aid training – including the training that the state requires of child care workers.
The Attorney General’s enforcement action stems from a complaint the American Red Cross filed with the Attorney General’s Office claiming that the organization never authorized Olivarri to use its name or logo on first aid certification cards. The certification, when valid, certifies that a person has completed a specified number of hours in first aid/CPR training for children, and therefore allows the holder to obtain child care employment.
An investigation by the Attorney General Office subsequently found that the defendant does not – and did not – actually provide the required first aid training in many cases. Moreover, she charged a fee for the certification cards to individuals who never undertook any training.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services licenses child care facilities, whose owners must validate first aid certifications of its employees.
The Office of the Attorney General seeks penalties against the defendant of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
In 2006, at the peak of Republican political rule, Jonas was earning almost $47,000 a month and was flying high. That was also the year state Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) introduced him to Rhonda Castle, a network marketing consultant at the time. Castle now works for CieAura, a company involved in transparent holographic chips designed to help the body balance its own energies.
