(D) Vince Rabago

About Vince
Vince Rabago is an Arizona native, born and raised on the Arizona border in Cochise County, in Douglas, Arizona. He attended the University of Arizona and graduated with a degree in Political Science in 1989. Vince attended the University of San Diego School of Law and received his law degree in 1993.  Vince is a career prosecutor. He worked in San Diego as a state prosecutor for the
California Attorney General for more than 8 years. In 2002, Vince returned to Arizona and became an Assistant Attorney General for the Arizona Attorney General’s office. Since 2005, Vince has investigated and prosecuted statewide and national business fraud cases for the AG’s Consumer Protection unit. On January 15, 2010, Vince stepped down from his position as Assistant Arizona Attorney General to run for Arizona Attorney General.
Vince has enforced justice against violent and hardened criminals. Based on his legal experience in both Arizona and California, Vince regularly teaches about constitutional law and the death penalty at the University of Arizona Law School.  As a state prosecutor, Vince has worked on criminal, civil, or constitutional matters at all levels, including the Arizona Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, District Court, the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Vince has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in the Attorney General’s office and for his work in the community. Vince served on the National Board of Directors of the Arizona Alumni Association for seven years. In 2007, Vince was selected as one of the top “40 Under 40″ leaders by Tucson Business Edge magazine. In 2008, he was a member of Governor Janet Napolitano’s Latino Advisory Council.
Vince and his wife Kristie have two children, both in public school. In their free time, the Rabago family enjoys camping and hiking in Arizona’s great outdoors. Some of Vince’s Legal Work
Payday Lenders – State v. QuikCash- In 2009, Vince investigated and brought a major fraud lawsuit against out-of-state payday lender QuikCash, accusing this lender of deceptive business practices that harmed Arizona consumers. This lawsuit seeks to stop the payday lender from doing business in Arizona, $5 million in restitution and to have the court set aside debt collection judgments the lender allegedly obtained against defaulting borrowers through deceptive practices. The case is pending, but among other things, alleges that the payday lender made a mockery of Arizona’s justice court system by obtaining an assembly line of deceptively obtained judgments against consumers. Vince successfully obtained a court injunction stopping the allegedly deceptive debt collection litigation practices against consumers. Mortgage Fraud – State v. AZI Rent2Own dba Arizona Investments – Vince brought a major real estate investment and mortgage fraud case (on-going) involving Rent-to-Own homebuyers that were allegedly defrauded while seeking to obtain the American dream of home ownership. The case alleged that the fraud was connected to more than one hundred (100) foreclosures in Southern Arizona, and hundreds of rent-to-own homebuyers who never were able to buy their homes. Recently, as part of the case, Vince reached a settlement that shut down a Tucson mortgage banking firm, prohibiting the owner from ever being a mortgage banker in Arizona.  State v. HomeVestors (Harvest Properties dba HomeVestors) –Vince successfully sued HomeVestors “We Buy Ugly Homes” franchise for alleged deceptive equity stripping, mortgage fraud and other fraudulent practices in an alleged foreclosure rescue scam. Vince reached a $350,000 settlement and consent judgment. Statewide Student Loan Investigation and Code of Conduct –Vince served as a member of the AG’s Student Loan Fraud legal team that conducted a statewide investigation of deceptive student loan practices and developed a statewide Student Loan Code of Conduct. National Investigations – NorVergence national multi-state investigation and related court settlements – Vince was lead counsel for the State of Arizona in a nationwide fraud investigation involving small businesses who were the defrauded victims being required to make rental payments on a fake and worthless telecommunications
device. The national investigation and court settlements resulted in 24 million dollars of debt forgiveness for small businesses nationally, including significant relief for affected small Arizona businesses and non-profits. MySpace and Facebook internet safety agreements – Vince was lead counsel for Arizona in a multi-state investigation into the internet safety practices and promises of
MySpace and Facebook. The multi-state group reached a ground-breaking agreement which resulted in industry wide principles for social networking safety, to protect consumers and children from online sexual predators. Sony BMG case –Vince was the lead counsel for the State of Arizona in a multi-state attorney general investigation of global music company Sony BMG for allegedly including secret software on their music CDs in 2005, that would download and hide itself in the “root” of your computer to regulate how many copies that would be made of the music. This
software, however, created a serious internet vulnerability of possible exploitation from computer hackers. The multi-state investigation team reached a $5 million settlement with Sony BMG, with $310,000 for Arizona, which included provisions for privacy protection and unlimited refunds/restitution for harmed consumers. Criminal cases – Vince has enforced justice against hardened & violent criminals at the highest levels of our state and federal courts.
PLATFORM: (1) take on predatory bankers, payday lenders, and mortgage scams, (2) border security through aggressive prosecution of cartels & trafficking; (3) elder abuse and consumer fraud; and (4) tackle Identity Theft.