A nonprofit industry organization alleges that hundreds of crane operators became certified through a fraudulent scheme that involved individuals falsifying exam score sheets on behalf of candidates, according to a federal lawsuit recently filed in San Antonio.
JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
San Antonio Express-News
Patrick Danner, Staff writer
Becoming certified to operate the towering cranes that dot downtown skylines and other landscapes requires written and practical exams that can cost thousands of dollars and involve hours of training.
But a nonprofit crane industry organization alleges that hundreds of operators received certification through a fraudulent scheme that involved individuals falsifying exam score sheets on behalf of candidates, according to a federal lawsuit recently filed in San Antonio.
The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators Inc., or CCO, which has administered more than 1.5 million exams and issued more than 425,000 certifications over nearly three decades, has sued three individuals and a Texas company — accusing them of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud by selling “passing results to candidates to obtain fraudulent CCO certifications.”
CCO representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment, though it issued a news release Wednesday after being contacted by the Express-News.
The organization says it was “forced to invalidate nearly 1,000 written and practical exams with evidence of collusion and/or lack of reliable evidence of validity.”
Some 270 candidates with invalidated exams were required to retake their exams, the CCO said. Only 38 of those candidates, or 14 percent, passed their exams, the lawsuit says.
‘Irreparable damage’
The CCO said its “paramount concern remains to promote safety in the load-handling industry.” And it said the defendants scheme has caused “irreparable damage to its business relations, goodwill, and future business relations and efforts, which harm will be extremely difficult to calculate.”
The CCO has sued Dan Chavez of Houston, Luisa Torres of San Antonio and Pedro Hernandez of Odem, along with his company, Coast Bend Crane Certification. None has filed an answer to the lawsuit, and no lawyers have made an appearance on their behalf as yet.
The alleged conspiracy began at least as early as August 2020, according to the CCO, and continued until early last year when the organization says it received a tip that led it to uncover the scheme to fraudulently certify individuals through its organization.
Chavez had been offering and selling “test insurance” — essentially a guarantee that candidates would receive passing scores on CCO exams leading to certifications, it says in its complaint.
“Chavez grifted as much as $6,000 or more from each candidate who participated in the fraudulent scheme to secure crane operator and other certifications from CCO,” it adds.
He enlisted the assistance of proctors — including Torres — who administered written exams to fill in answers for candidates, some of whom didn’t appear for the exams, the CCO says in its lawsuit.
For the practical exams, where candidates had to demonstrate their skills operating a crane, Chavez would allow them to do “whatever they wanted,” such as “knock over poles,” the complaint says.
“Whether or not the candidate ‘took’ the practical exam, Chavez would then fill in the scoresheet with information which he understood would guarantee the candidate a passing score,” the suit alleges.
Recruitment
Chavez, who had worked at Converse-based National Crane Certification & Inspection Co., “bragged” to two colleagues during a dinner “how much money he was making” by charging candidates “extra fees” for “guaranteed” passing scores on their exams, the suit alleges. He tried to recruit the colleagues to participate in the scheme, but one instead alerted a company supervisor, the complaint adds.
The company terminated Chavez in January 2022.
The following month, after receiving the tip, the CCO says its “Program Integrity Team” opened an investigation into Chavez and Torres. It immediately suspended Chavez from acting as a practical examiner and test-site coordinator and Torres as a written exam proctor.
The CCO revoked their testing personnel roles in May 2022.
But the CCO alleges that Chavez “continued to conspire to perpetuate (the) scheme with Hernandez, who goes by ‘Pete’ or ‘Blue.’”
Chavez continued to take candidates money and not provide any services, the CCO alleges in the suit. For example, one man paid Chavez $3,000 to take a CCO written exam on his behalf but it never received any application or score sheet on the man’s behalf, it says.
“Evidently, Mr. Chavez is continuing to prey on CCO candidates for certification,” it says in the suit.
In addition to financial damages, the CCO seeks to stop the defendants from allegedly distributing its copyrighted exams.