Brooklyn Owners Sold Fake Construction Safety Certifications: DA

BED STUY, NY — A Bed Stuy woman was among three accused of making and selling falsified safety certifications for construction workers, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Monday.

Latecia Moore, 42, and two other Brooklyn business owners face forgery and falsification charges for separate construction safety schemes, Gonzalez said.

Moore manufactured and sold fake cards certification cards required at construction sites to ensure workers undergo safety training, including supervisor-level trainings for fall prevention and scaffolding, Gonzalez said.

Sellers involved in the scheme had customers complete course attendance sheets and evaluation forms without attending any classes, according to Gonzalez.

Moore pocketed between $250 and $650 for each card, according to investigators.

"As charged, these defendants made and sold illegitimate documents that purported to certify construction workers had the required training when in fact they did not," Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said.

Investigators found a card printer, computers and fake cards at Moore's workplace, according to the district attorney.

Investigators were first tipped off in 2021 after the New York City Housing Authority found janky safety cards during a routine inspection, according to the district attorney.

"City and federal agencies’ construction safety rules are not optional, and promoting work-arounds to rigorous courses and programs designed to ensure worker safety can and does lead to dangerous and tragic results," Strauber said.

Alex Kaushanskiy, 35, of Sheepshead Bay and Benedetto Bonello, 35, of Bensonhurst also faced charges for similar schemes at their companies Odessa Safety and National Site Safety, according to the district attorney. Bonello and Kaushanskiy are both certified trainers.