Case against concrete test firm in N.Y. raises industry fraud concerns

Fortich and the company “vehemently deny the allegations in the indictment, and we shall fight this case,’’ said their lawyer, Richard R. Leff.

Prosecutors said they believed any safety concerns had been addressed by retesting, plus some upgrades in projects they would not specify.

But the case spotlighted the stubborn presence of concerns about fraud in an industry important to the safety of a city of skyscrapers and subways, especially since prosecutors said the firm’s 12 years of fraud continued even after another major lab was indicted and city officials tightened oversight of concrete testing in the past three years.

“The volume of fabricated tests was egregious’’ in the American Standard case, netting the company millions of dollars for results “that were no more than worthless pieces of paper,’’ District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

American Standard, Fortich, and the accused engineers, lab directors, and inspector “regularly skipped vital safety tests and created false reports to create the impression that the tests were performed,’’ an indictment said.

The buildings included Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Javits Center convention venue, a Columbia University science building, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, the forthcoming Second Avenue subway line and office and apartment buildings, according to the indictment.

“The projects that American Standard worked on were varied and touched every part of New York City life,’’ Assistant District Attorney Diana Florence told a judge.

After earlier cases against other labs, the stadium and certain other projects around the city were retested and found safe, city officials said.

Engineers generally design buildings to make sure they will be safe even if there are problems with some materials.

The earlier cases heightened concern about construction safety in the city, spurring new scrutiny of concrete testing and the labs licensed to do it.

Among other measures, city Department of Buildings inspectors started conducting new spot checks on concrete testing procedures.