Brooklyn, NY – Indictment of Engineer Who Caused Fraudulent Plans To Be Filed With Dept. of Buildings

Brooklyn, NY – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn today announced the indictment of A. H. for causing fraudulent plans to be filed with the Department of Buildings in connection with an application for permits to excavate at 791-793 Glenmore Ave, a job site where a building collapse would later kill a laborer.

Mr. H., 84, is charged with Nine Counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison for each count.

The indictment charges that in 2005, William Lattarulo hired an architect to design plans to build a laundromat at 791-793 Glenmore Ave, in East New York, Brooklyn. The architect in turn subcontracted the excavation portion of the designs to H. who is a professional engineer with Sanchez Associated. However, H., who had previously lost his authority to self-certify architectural designs, used a stamp belonging to his partner, Luis Sanchez, to certify them in Sanchez’s name. He also placed Sanchez’s signature on several documents filed in support of Lattarulo’s applications for building permits.

At the time of the incident, Sanchez was recovering from a severe brain injury and lacked the physical ability to review or certify architectural designs.

After acquiring the necessary building permits, Lattarulo commenced construction in a reckless manner, which ultimately lead to the death of a construction worker, when the adjacent building collapsed, according to a separate indictment announced June 11. In that indictment, Lattarulo is charged with Manslaughter in the Second Degree.

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.