Hundreds of CA buildings designed by 2 fake engineers

[pixy0stix]

www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/09/hundreds-california-homes-buildings-used-plans-drafted-by-2-phony-engineers-say-authorities.html

Hundreds of buildings -- from houses to strip malls -- could face the wrecking ball after California authorities unraveled a decade-long scam involving a pair of phony building engineers who used stolen software to craft bogus blueprints, officials told FoxNews.com.

Wilfrido Rodriguez and Ruben Gutierrez, allegedly posing as licensed professionals and using stolen software, drew up engineering and architectural plans for homes, apartments, commercial properties and strip malls in at least 56 Southern California cities beginning in 2003, according to police. Neither had the training, expertise or credentials to vouch for the safety of the building plans, and authorities are only now grasping the scope of the problem.

“There has never been a case involving alleged engineering fraud of this magnitude,” Detective Rod Barton, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau, told FoxNews.com. “Because this involves fraud related to structural engineering, we just don’t know if the houses are safe, unsafe or suitable for habitation.”

“There is never been a case involving alleged engineering fraud of this magnitude.”

- Det. Rod Barton, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
The pair duped architects, builders and homeowners into believing they knew what they were doing, Barton said. Now, authorities are tasked with reviewing every building the pair worked on and determining if they are structurally sound, an issue made all the more urgent given the frequency of earthquakes in California.

“A significant concern is foundations,” said Panos Prevedouros, a professor and chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. “Experienced drafters can work out safe designs for small masonry structures, but proper foundation design and specialized structural components required detailed engineering analysis.”

Before embarking on their alleged scam, the pair worked for the Rolling Hills Estates-based Palos Verdes Engineering Company. The company, which declined to comment for this story, told authorities it uncovered the alleged engineering fraud after a customer complained about an offer made by the men in April 2014.

Since that time, Barton and his bureau have been tracking down projects that involved the pair, and have been stunned and horrified at the number of buildings involved.

“Up until then, nobody had any knowledge that this fraud was occurring,” Barton told FoxNews.com. “We visited 56 cities from San Bernardino and Riverside to Ventura County. Our nexus were the initial files Palos Verdes Engineering identified, and then we segued into other projects. It was a lot of groundwork.”

Law enforcement authorities are working the Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists to determine the scope and risk posed by the alleged fraud.

“Evidence thus far uncovered leads us to believe there were hundreds of projects built on their fraudulent structural engineering,” said Tiffany Criswell, the board’s enforcement manager. “Evidence leads us to believe there are additional properties we have yet to identify.”

One challenge for law enforcement is that many local governments only keep design and engineering plans on file for six months.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sent contact letters to homeowners, developers, and architectural designers whose properties have been identified as possibly being associated with fraudulent structural engineering,” Barton said. “Investigators believe additional properties associated with structural engineering fraud may exist, but have not yet been identified.”

The men have not been charged and are cooperating with the sheriffs’ detectives. While sheriffs didn’t say how much the men allegedly profited on the deal, they likely made at least $2,000 to $3,000 per project on potentially several hundred projects over 11 years, according to industry insiders.

The LA sheriff’s white collar crime division will consider the case and whether to charge the men with a variety of crimes including civil engineering fraud, grand theft, theft of company identity, and forgery, LA sheriffs’ detectives said.

Palos Verdes Engineering Company had no business relations with the men between 2003 and 2014, during the time the alleged fraud occurred, Barton said. The men allegedly stole software from the company, which was used to produce fraudulent engineering plans bearing its company name and logo, Barton said.

“Palos Verdes Engineering Company’s civil engineer seal and forged signature was also used on structural engineering records to make the plans appear authentic, and as if they had been reviewed and approved by a licensed professional civil engineer.”

Legitimate professional engineers must have a degree in civil engineering, pass several grueling exams and obtain five years of experience before they can sign off on design documents for implementation.

On the architectural side, the value of architectural licensure is “immeasurable,” said Matt Tinder, spokesperson for
The American Institute of Architects, in Washington, DC.

“Without it, the entire built environment could serve as a public safety hazard,” Tinder said.

While there have been no glaring design flaws brought to the sheriff’s attention, there could be a risk to the public, which could be heightened by a natural disaster such as an earthquake. The sheriff’s department is advising homeowners who worked with Rodriguez and Gutierrez to contract the services of a civil engineer to go through the plans, examine their residence and determine if they are safe.

“We want to make sure people are safe,” Barton said. “There is a reason all these requirements are in place. When the whole procedure is circumvented, something bad can happen.”

[ttt]

Holy crap.

Nobody thought to check their licenses? Nobody???

[ijack]

Whoa. I wonder if they are actually engineers that just aren't professionally licensed or if they have no engineering background at all.

[penguingrrl]

Whoa! That's absolutely insane! What happens to the people whose homes or commercial buildings are deemed unsafe? I hope there's some sort of recourse for them since I'm sure these guys weren't insured or, if they were, the insurance in null since they aren't qualified.

[elleblue]

Omg!

[downtoearth]

Feb 9, 2016 17:05:36 GMT -5 ijack said:

Whoa. I wonder if they are actually engineers that just aren't professionally licensed or if they have no engineering background at all.

This was my thought. I wonder if they were engineers without a PE.

And it might be costly, but other structural engineers could inspect the houses and buildings. That is a reasonable solution that should be taken. That is what we do with historic houses and building built before the PE anyway. It's not like they have to be immediately torn down. You can even retrofit for earthquakes (well on most buildings, but not all).

[aurora]

Feb 9, 2016 17:05:00 GMT -5 ttt said:

Holy crap.

Nobody thought to check their licenses? Nobody???

It looks like they stole legitimate licenses: "Palos Verdes Engineering Company’s civil engineer seal and forged signature was also used on structural engineering records to make the plans appear authentic, and as if they had been reviewed and approved by a licensed professional civil engineer.”

The wrecking ball seems a little trigger happy, but certainly these buildings should be carefully reviewed.

[dancelnow]

It did sound like they were reviewing them, but the line about the wrecking ball is more catchy

[Deleted]

I feel like this could be a movie starring Dana Carvey.

Is anyone else old enough to remember that con man movie?

[thejackpot]

Wow, how ballsy. You defraud people for years! Forge documents etc. They should be put under the damn jail.

[WanderingWinoZ]

that's nuts! I'm curious to see if qualified & just not licensed and/or if any of the designs were actually dangerous.

[suzubell]

Thank goodness no one was physically hurt. What a mess.

[wawa]

Feb 9, 2016 18:00:30 GMT -5 aurora said:

Feb 9, 2016 17:05:00 GMT -5 ttt said:

Holy crap.

Nobody thought to check their licenses? Nobody???

It looks like they stole legitimate licenses: "Palos Verdes Engineering Company’s civil engineer seal and forged signature was also used on structural engineering records to make the plans appear authentic, and as if they had been reviewed and approved by a licensed professional civil engineer.”

The wrecking ball seems a little trigger happy, but certainly these buildings should be carefully reviewed.

It's possible that California does it differently (though I don't think they do), but generally a PE stamp isn't something that belongs to the company.  it's individual.  I, personally, carry a license as a Professional Engineer.  It's not a license though my company.   My company is also licensed as a firm that provides engineering services (that's actually recent in MD), but any plans I stamp I'm certifying that I personally, as a PE, am certifying them as correct.  So I'm not sure what the sentence above is actually implying. 

[aurora]

Feb 10, 2016 15:47:53 GMT -5 wawa said:

Feb 9, 2016 18:00:30 GMT -5 aurora said:

It looks like they stole legitimate licenses: "Palos Verdes Engineering Company’s civil engineer seal and forged signature was also used on structural engineering records to make the plans appear authentic, and as if they had been reviewed and approved by a licensed professional civil engineer.”

The wrecking ball seems a little trigger happy, but certainly these buildings should be carefully reviewed.

It's possible that California does it differently (though I don't think they do), but generally a PE stamp isn't something that belongs to the company.  it's individual.  I, personally, carry a license as a Professional Engineer.  It's not a license though my company.   My company is also licensed as a firm that provides engineering services (that's actually recent in MD), but any plans I stamp I'm certifying that I personally, as a PE, am certifying them as correct.  So I'm not sure what the sentence above is actually implying. 

I took it to read that they stole the licensed PE's stamp from the company, but I agree it's very poorly worded. I guess I saw another 's where there wasn't one: ...Company's civil engineer's seal...

I did tell H he had another thing to worry about now (the possibility of someone stealing his stamp and forging his signature).

[wawa]

Feb 10, 2016 15:57:49 GMT -5 aurora said:

Feb 10, 2016 15:47:53 GMT -5 wawa said:

It's possible that California does it differently (though I don't think they do), but generally a PE stamp isn't something that belongs to the company.  it's individual.  I, personally, carry a license as a Professional Engineer.  It's not a license though my company.   My company is also licensed as a firm that provides engineering services (that's actually recent in MD), but any plans I stamp I'm certifying that I personally, as a PE, am certifying them as correct.  So I'm not sure what the sentence above is actually implying. 

I took it to read that they stole the licensed PE's stamp from the company, but I agree it's very poorly worded. I guess I saw another 's where there wasn't one: ...Company's civil engineer's seal...

I did tell H he had another thing to worry about now (the possibility of someone stealing his stamp and forging his signature).

It just seems like such a complicated scam.  Because in order to get away with it more than once you have to be good enough at the engineering that shit doesn't fall down right away.  Why not just...become an actual PE?  Hire actual engineers?  Start a real company?  I don't understand this whole thing.

[wawa]

also aurora, as I was writing that I looked at who I was talking to and realized that I was pretty sure you knew that but figured I'd just hit post anyway.

[mrspez07]

There are some City's that f*d up too. These types of plans often go through lots of jurisdictional review by similarly licensed people. There are also face-to-face meetings, etc. this also wasn't a booming period of development, so the jurisdictions can't claim they were swamped with applications, we were still in a recession slowdown on land development.
This is weird all around to me.

Licensing - yes, I am personally licensed, but when working for a company, you are stamping on their behalf and often covered under their liability insurance for doing so. You can do the same thing solo, just have to pay the insurance personally.