Lab Executives Faked Safety Tests on NYC Buildings Despite Potential Risk to Lives, Said New York Personal Injury Lawyer
Executives from American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories face charges they faked concrete strength tests on New York City buildings.

NEW YORK, NY, August 13, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Executives of a major safety lab allegedly skipped safety tests and filed false reports on a variety of projects both large and small, claiming their concrete met quality and strength standards.

"Fortunately, they were caught before anyone was hurt or injured," said New York personal injury lawyer David Perecman.

As reported by Reuters, prosecutors accused American Standard Testing and Consulting Laboratories (ATSC), a Long Island firm, of fabricating almost all of its work from 1997 to 2009.

American Standard's owner, Alan Fortich, his brother Alvaro Fortich and four engineers were indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. They had all pleaded not guilty to charges of enterprise corruption, offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, engaging in a scheme to defraud in the first degree and falsifying business records in the first degree, reported The Wall Street Journal.

According to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, close to 3,000 test reports contained illegitimate test results. Buildings involved in the fraud include Yankee Stadium, the Javits Center, the Fulton Street subway station, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Lincoln Tunnel, and the Second Ave. subway, reported the New York Daily News.

ATSC provided false results for both mix designs and tests of actual concrete samples from construction sites, the indictment said. The company also is accused of falsifying credentials to get city licenses and to be registered as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.

As New York personal injury lawyers understand, many NYC builders depend on independent laboratories to test the concrete.

Under the city building code, a lab hired for a construction project is supposed to mix up sample batches of concrete formulas and subject them to pressure until they break, in order to make sure they can withstand the loads they need to.

The affected sites have been inspected again and "at this point there aren't any outstanding safety issues," Vance said.

The individuals indicted each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted of enterprise corruption, the top charge.

David Perecman and his team of New York personal injury lawyers at The Perecman Firm have won hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for victims of personal injury accidents who were injured or killed due to the negligence or misconduct of another individual, company, or entity.

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