Investigative Report Issued Today Recommends Reforms, Many Already Being Implemented,
to Strengthen Asbestos Investigations in NYC
Mark G. Peters, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”); Cyrus R.
Vance, Jr., Manhattan District Attorney; Richard A. Brown, Queens District Attorney; Michael E. McMahon,
Richmond County District Attorney, and Vincent Sapienza, Commissioner of the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection (“DEP”), jointly announced the arrest of 17 Certified Asbestos Investigators (“CAIs”) on
charges of falsely filing documents certifying that planned construction at dozens of properties in Manhattan and
Staten Island would not disturb asbestos. The arrests were announced at a press conference today and stem
from concerns brought to DOI by DEP asbestos enforcement staff. A subsequent investigation found an array of
charged illegal conduct that occurred from 2016 through 2017, including asbestos investigators misrepresenting
the content of lab reports regarding the presence of asbestos on inspected premises and asbestos investigators
falsely representing to DEP that a location was free of asbestos when the investigator had not personally
inspected the premises as required by law. These false reports potentially exposed unassuming workers to life
threatening asbestos. DOI also issued a Report documenting this investigation, the vulnerabilities found, and the
reforms necessary to protect and strengthen the integrity of asbestos investigations. This investigation is
ongoing.
DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said, “This criminal investigation and today’s arrests again show
the widespread dangers of construction fraud. Working with our law enforcement partners and DEP, DOI
exposed professional asbestos investigators who were certifying that sites were asbestos free without ever
checking to see if the sites were actually safe, according to the charges. Instead, the defendants pocketed a fee,
walked away, and potentially exposed multiple unsuspecting workers to serious health risks. DEP worked hand-in-hand
with this team and has taken seriously the reforms DOI has recommended to strengthen and improve
the integrity of asbestos inspections. We thank our partners in the Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island DA’s
offices for their hard work and commitment to fighting fraud in all its forms and making New York City a safer
place.”
Before a construction permit is issued by the City Department of Buildings (“DOB”), the property owner
must retain a Certified Asbestos Investigator, a professional licensed by DEP and the New York State
Department of Labor, to inspect a property for the presence of asbestos. As part of an inspection, a CAI will
conduct a visual examination of the location to determine if any asbestos-containing material may be present. If
the CAI determines that there may be asbestos-containing material, the CAI will take samples of that material
from the site and send the samples to a lab for testing. Once the CAI receives the lab results, they are submitted
to DEP as an asbestos assessment report. If the lab results indicate there is no asbestos-containing material;
there is asbestos-containing material that will not be disturbed during the work; or there are minor amounts of
asbestos-containing material that will be abated prior to the work commencing, the CAI files a form known as an
ACP-5. On this form, the CAI documents the location, date, and time of the inspection; signs and affixes his or
her CAI seal; and then signs the document verifying that “the information provided herein is true and complete.”
Once filed with DEP, the ACP-5 is assigned a control number. The property owner then submits that ACP-5 as
one part of a package submitted to DOB to obtain a construction permit.
DEP brought DOI concerns regarding the assessments of certain CAIs, worked with and trained
investigators, provided asbestos inspection records, and is implementing the reforms DOI recommended. In
addition, DEP has already suspended and begun the process of revoking the CAI licenses of each of the
defendants.
In 2017, DEP nearly doubled the number of inspectors auditing asbestos assessments. DEP has also
been more aggressively suspending and revoking the certifications of CAIs who have submitted reports that
were found to contain factual errors.
Joint investigation with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
Two years ago, DOI and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Financial Frauds Bureau began
looking at fraud involving asbestos investigations, analyzing an array of records, including asbestos inspection
records provided by DEP, and examining that list with other data, such as travel and cell phone records of the
defendants, and audit results from labs where the CAIs brought building samples for asbestos testing. As a
result of this investigation, nine defendants have been arrested and charged by indictment today. The charged
crimes include:
CAIs who falsely certified that construction at the property would not disturb asbestos even
though the samples the CAI had submitted to the lab tested positive for asbestos;
CAIs who claimed to have conducted inspections when travel or other records show that the
investigator was out of the country or out of the state.
The nine defendants charged by indictments obtained by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are
being unsealed today in Manhattan Supreme Court as each defendant is arraigned.
Joint Investigation with the Queens District Attorney’s Office
DOI and the Queens District Attorney’s Office conducted sting operations that led to the arrests of
seven CAIs today on charges of submitting an ACP-5 between June and July 2017, stating they conducted
inspections when, in fact, they did not. The City requires that for an ACP-5 to be certified, a CAI must physically
visit the location to survey for asbestos hazards. In each of these arrests, a certified ACP-5 form was purchased
from a CAI stating there was no asbestos-containing material without that CAI physically conducting an on-site
inspection, as required, and the CAI subsequently filed that ACP-5 with the DEP in Queens. Investigators
conducted surveillance and monitored phone calls of the defendants in each case and found that the CAI never
went to inspect the site. In one case, a CAI indicated he wrote about 50 ACP-5 forms for sites he never visited.
Joint Investigation with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office
DOI and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office found that in January 2017, FRANCIS OWOH
filed an ACP-5 with DEP certifying that he performed an asbestos inspection at 102 Prall Ave. in Staten Island on
December 28, 2016. Investigators reviewed records maintained by the United States Department of Homeland
Security that showed the defendant exited the United States on December 12, 2016 and re-entered the United
States on January 14, 2017. The investigation found that the defendant was in Nigeria when he said he had
conducted an asbestos investigation at the site on Prall Ave. OWOH was arrested on Monday, January 29,
2018, released on his own recognizance, and is expected to return to Richmond County Criminal Court on April
13, 2018.
DOI’s Recommendations:
DOI has made five recommendations to DEP to strengthen DEP’s regulatory oversight over CAIs.
DEP has agreed to all recommendations and several have already been implemented, including:]
DEP will conduct more thorough background checks of all new and renewing CAIs. DEP will
also refer to DOI any new applicants where fraud and other misconduct is suspected.
DEP has drafted new rules that will now require that all CAI applicants have experience in
building surveys for asbestos. This investigation revealed a lack of competence in asbestos
investigations by certain CAI applicants, specifically registered design professionals, certified
safety professionals and industrial hygienists, who under current rules are exempt from
experience requirements.
DEP will prohibit CAIs from submitting bulk samples of suspect materials they collected in their
investigations to laboratories that CAIs are affiliated with to avoid a potential conflict. Current
state regulations do not prohibit CAIs from associations or ownership interests in a testing
laboratory to which they send samples.
DEP will institute a more frequent and robust audit regimen to include a thorough review of the
accuracy and authenticity of records associated with CAIs’ asbestos investigations and refer to
DOI any suspect findings. This investigation revealed that even though CAIs are required to
maintain business records associated with their investigations for a period of 30 years that
these records were not properly maintained by many of the defendants.
Indictments and criminal complaints are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven
guilty.
