Thread: School charged in asbestos certification scam

School charged in asbestos certification scam

By Brian Fraga
Standard-Times staff writer
August 24, 2007 6:00 AM

The president of a Methuen asbestos training school, where several illegal immigrants from New Bedford received certificates to become asbestos workers and supervisors, was indicted in U.S. District Court on charges of issuing diplomas to people who never completed the course.

According to a federal affidavit, Environmental Compliance Testing routinely issued asbestos certificates to people who did not attend required training courses or pass the test. Albania Deleon, president of ECT, arranged for them to receive fraudulent certificates in exchange for $400, the affidavit said. The regular cost of the course and exams was $350.

U.S. Attorney Jonathan Mitchell said several people who received fraudulent certificates appeared to be illegal immigrants from New Bedford. They worked across Massachusetts at demolition and construction sites, overseeing asbestos removal.

However, Mr. Mitchell said it is difficult to say how many local immigrants attended the school in Metheun, which is 86 miles north of New Bedford.

"We went through a number of the asbestos licenses the state issued, and New Bedford had a number of hits," Mr. Mitchell said. "But this is such a transient population, it's difficult to know how many."

Mr. Mitchell said authorities initiated an investigation after hearing rumors that ECT was a "diploma mill." According to the affidavit, an undercover agent was sent to ECT. The agent paid the company $400 in exchange for a certificate saying he completed the required asbestos training course. The transaction was caught on a hidden camera, according to the affidavit.

"The majority of these certified recipients from ECT did not take the course," Mr. Mitchell said. "Therefore, they were untrained to do the dangerous work of asbestos removal that they were ultimately engaged in."

Ms. Deleon and Jose Francisco Garcia-Garcia, an ECT employee, are charged with willfully providing fraudulent documents and statements to the Massachusetts Department of Occupational Safety.

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President of asbestos school that issued certificates to illegal immigrants indicted
March 15, 2008 6:00 AM

The president of a Methuen asbestos training school, where several illegal immigrants from New Bedford received certificates to become asbestos workers and supervisors, has been indicted in U.S. District Court on additional charges of conspiring to hire illegal aliens.

Indicted last August for submitting fraudulent documents to the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety, Albania Deleon, 38, of New Hampshire, was charged this week in a superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to make false statements, encourage illegal aliens to reside in the United States and to hire illegal aliens.

The charges are based on allegations that Ms. Deleon ran an under-the-table payroll through her temporary employment agency that enabled her to evade payment of payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance premiums.

From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Deleon owned and operated Environmental Compliance Testing, one of the largest certified asbestos training schools in Massachusetts.

According to federal affidavits, Ms. Deleon routinely issued asbestos certificates to people who did not attend required training courses or pass the test. She allegedly arranged for them to receive fraudulent certificates in exchange for $400. The regular cost of the course and exams was $350.

Prosecutors have said several people who received the fraudulent certificates were illegal immigrants from New Bedford. They worked across Massachusetts at demolition and construction sites, overseeing asbestos removal.

Many of the untrained certificate recipients were directed to work for Methuen Staffing, Ms. Deleon's temporary services company that specialized in asbestos removal, court records said.

Ms. Deleon allegedly directed several illegal immigrants to individuals who would give them fraudulent Social Security Cards and other identification documents.

Court records allege Ms. Deleon paid most of these employees under-the-table; ECT would then report to the IRS and the workers' compensation insurance carriers only those employees who had their taxes withheld.

The alleged scheme enabled Ms. Deleon to save over $1 million in tax and insurance payments, court records said.

If convicted, Ms. Deleon faces up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by several government agencies that included the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau and the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety.

U.S. Attorneys Jonathan F. Mitchell and Peter W. Kenyon are prosecuting the case.

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