Forest Hills Woman Accused Of Forging Construction Documents

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A Forest Hills woman faces felony charges for forging construction documents, investigators said.

Evelyn Dellutri, 55, was arrested Thursday on charges of filing dozens of forged documents with the city to apply for construction permits in Queens, according to the NYC Department of Investigation.

Prosecutors charged Dellutri with forgery, perjury and falsifying business records for allegedly using an engineer's stamp to falsify approval of 70 commercial construction documents filed with the city's Department of Buildings, according to the charges. Investigators found that the engineer didn't authorize the use of his stamp for those documents, which Dellutri filed between November 2014 and August 2015.

Licensed professional engineers will rubber-stamp construction documents to indicate the plans follow the law, according to the DOB's website. The documents Dellutri submitted included an application for a DOB construction permit, construction plans and an engineer's inspection.

The Department of Investigation began investigating after receiving a tip that Dellutri was filing forged documents. Investigators then found the engineer's stamp in Dellutri's home, according to the agency.

"In allegedly forging the credentials of a professional engineer, this defendant potentially compromised the integrity of commercial construction projects and attempted to circumvent a process meant to keep City construction safe," DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett said.

"These actions led to plans being submitted with missing drawings and other problems that could have posed risks to the reliability of the construction work."

The construction projects are currently on hold, according to the DOI. The Queens DA's office is prosecuting the case.