A San Francisco Mercedes driver accused of killing an Apple executive and his family allegedly tried to transfer her assets to avoid losing her fortune in any civil suit filed over the tragedy.
Mary Fong Lau, 79, is accused of mowing down Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, Matilde Ramos Pinto, 38, and their two children with her SUV as they waited at a bus stop in the West Portal neighborhood last year.
In a new lawsuit filed against Lau, she was accused of hiding her assets after being hit with civil action by the victim’s families.
Lau is facing the lawsuit under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, which alleges that she fraudulently transferred her interest in real estate in San Francisco to avoid losing them in financial restitution.
Lau was hit with a wrongful death lawsuit in June 2024, and according to the lawsuit first reported by KTVU, she transferred her stake in three properties in August.
The day after she transferred her stake to two newly formed Nevada limited liability companies, her attorneys filed a motion to halt the wrongful death case until her criminal trial is over.
Lau’s attorneys quickly shot back at the allegations, saying: ‘We want to be clear that this is not the case. In the aftermath of the accident, Ms. Lau and her family sought professional help from legal, financial, medical, and mental health consultants.
‘While Ms. Lau was advised to reorganize her property holdings in the months following the accident, none of these transfers were intended to evade potential damages arising from this heartbreaking event.’
San Francisco Mercedes driver Mary Fong Lau, 79, who is accused of killing an Apple executive and his family in a horror crash allegedly tried to transfer her assets to avoid losing her fortune if she is sued over the tragedy
The 78-year-old is charged with killing Diego Cardoso de Oliveira, 40, Matilde Ramos Pinto, 38, and their two children in a horror crash last March
Lau has been accused of changing her story over the fatal crash, first saying she accidentally hit the accelerator before telling cops her car malfunctioned
Lau’s attorney Seth Morris insisted that she will fully cooperate with both criminal and civil cases against her.
‘As a mother and grandmother, she acknowledges the immense suffering of those who lost loved ones and understands their families deserve to be compensated for their very unfortunate loss.’
Lau is set for a preliminary hearing on July 17, with her case upended after she was alleged to have changed her story over the horror crash.
The San Francisco Standard reported that Lau told witnesses at the scene that she was trying to park when she accidentally hit the accelerator during the fateful incident on March 16.
However, Lau told cops at the hospital that the 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 she was driving malfunctioned before she plowed into the bus shelter where the family of four was struck.
Investigators found no problems with Lau’s car, which they said was traveling at an estimated 66 to 75 mph, the Standard reported.
The crash killed the couple and their sons, 1-year-old Joaquin Ramos Pinto de Oliveira and three-month-old Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, as the family was waiting to catch a bus to the zoo.
Lau has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter. She was ordered not to drive and to turn over her driver’s license to the court
The family lived in the Mission District and planned to spend a day at the zoo for their wedding anniversary
Lau has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter. She was ordered not to drive and to turn over her driver’s license to the court.
Her attorney, Samuel Geller, told the Standard that there is a ‘level of hearsay’ in the witness statement given to police, noting that the witness was paraphrasing comments made by Lau in the wake of a traumatic incident.
‘I would ask the public to reserve judgment until the court process has taken its course,’ Geller said.
‘This is a horrific tragedy, and Ms. Lau continues to mourn this incident to this day.’
Some witnesses said Lau suffered a medical incident before the crash. Others said she got out of the car yelling, ‘What have I done?’
Diego and Joaquin were killed at the scene while Matilde and Cauê succumbed to injuries in hospital.
The family lived in the Mission District and planned to spend a day at the zoo for their wedding anniversary, friends said.
Joaquin Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, 1, was killed at the scene along with his father, while his brother and mom died at the hospital
Diego, a creative director at Apple, was from Brazil and Matilde was a film and advertising producer from Portugal.
Other people waiting for the bus to arrive were also injured in the crash and received medical attention.
One witness, Nikki Mashburn, told The San Francisco Chronicle that she heard the crash and that is sounded like ‘an explosion.’ She said that the victims suffered head injuries.
‘When the paramedics showed up, you could tell … they didn’t know what to do first,’ Mashburn said.
Following the tragedy, advocacy group Walk San Francisco and locals voiced concerns about the intersection of Ulloa Street and West Portal Avenue where the bus stop is located.
The group noted that around the intersection, there are multiple places frequented by families and children, like a library, schools and train stations.
