A San Diego concession scheme that quietly siphoned millions from charity sales at Petco Park and Snapdragon Stadium has come crashing down, after 57-year-old Noly Hermoso Ilarde admitted in federal court that it was all a fraud.
Prosecutors say Ilarde and a partner posed as the nonprofit Chula Vista Fast Pitch, a supposed youth softball booster, then pocketed stadium concession proceeds that were supposed to help kids play ball. According to plea documents, the operation funneled roughly $3.5 million from Petco Park and more than $250,000 from Snapdragon Stadium into accounts the two men controlled.
How the Scheme Worked
According to federal prosecutors and local reporting, Ilarde and his co‑conspirator signed up Chula Vista Fast Pitch as if it were a legitimate nonprofit that could provide volunteers to work concession stands in exchange for about 10 percent of sales. As KPBS reported, the pair typically handed supposed volunteers around 50 dollars in cash per event and then divided most of the remaining cut between themselves.
The setup looked, on paper, like the standard stadium charity arrangement. In practice, prosecutors say, it was a steady stream of cash that never made it to the softball community it was supposedly built to support.
How It First Came to Light
The scheme did not unravel because of internal audits, but because local reporters started asking questions. In 2023, Voice of San Diego flagged Chula Vista Fast Pitch as a phantom nonprofit working concession stands at Petco Park and later at San Diego State University’s Snapdragon Stadium.
The outlet reported that when venues asked for standard nonprofit documentation, the group could not produce the filings. Reporters also traced staffing patterns that did not line up with a typical community charity, raising enough red flags that stadium operators eventually demanded more paperwork and then barred the group.
Proceeds, Pleas and Penalties
Coverage compiled by NBC 7 San Diego reports that Delaware North, which manages concessions at Petco Park, paid about 3.5 million dollars to the operation, while Aztec Shops at SDSU paid more than 250,000 dollars tied to Snapdragon Stadium sales.
Prosecutors say Ilarde personally collected more than 550,000 dollars from the scheme and Rebollo more than 1.5 million dollars. Ilarde has now pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, while Rebollo previously admitted to related fraud and tax offenses, according to the same reporting and the federal plea documents.
Investigators and Enforcement
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the case came together with help from several federal agencies, including the FBI’s San Diego Division, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California, lays out the charges and the investigative roles of each agency, detailing how what started as a local stadium concern grew into a full federal case.
Local Fallout and Accountability
Once the reporting pulled the curtain back, stadium officials moved quickly to distance themselves. Operators cut off Chula Vista Fast Pitch and said they would tighten up how they verify charities that staff the stands, a process that had largely run on trust until reporters and federal agents started pulling records.
As KPBS noted, the hundreds of thousands of dollars that prosecutors say were diverted left community groups without support they were expecting from what looked like routine game-day fundraising.
Legal Implications
Ilarde’s plea to wire fraud conspiracy carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and fines up to 250,000 dollars, or twice the gross gain or loss, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The same press release notes that Rebollo pleaded guilty in December 2025 to filing a false tax return and Social Security fraud, and that both men are set to be sentenced later this spring. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill.
The investigation that began with local watchdog reporting is now a test case for how aggressively venues and concession managers check out groups that claim to be charities. Prosecutors and local outlets say restitution and a detailed accounting of the money are still on the table, as San Diego officials and donors wait to find out how much of the missing cash can actually be clawed back.
