Construction safety company accused of rigging training of deceased workers

A New York City construction safety company and 25 people were indicted Wednesday in connection with a yearslong scheme that falsely certified thousands of workers as having completed required safety training, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said. One of the workers the company claimed to have trained was killed at a construction site.

The company, Valor Security and Investigations, and four people were also charged with recklessly endangering the life of the deceased construction worker, Ivan Frias. Six people who worked at Valor, including the founder, were additionally charged with corporate corruption and criminal possession of a forged instrument.

In recent years, Valor has become one of the largest providers of on-the-job safety training for construction workers in New York City. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the company stated that 20,000 workers had completed 40 hours of training between December 2019 and April 2023. Workers cannot work at most construction sites in the city without completing the training.

Valor and its founder, Alexander Shaporov, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alvin L. Bragg, the district attorney, said prosecutors believe most employees certified by Valor have never been trained. Valor submitted paperwork showing that Mr. Frias had received safety training, including eight hours of fall protection, but that he never took the courses.

Prosecutors from the city attorney’s office, along with investigators from the city’s Department of Buildings and Investigations, said they uncovered a scheme in which Valor partnered with real estate agents to help people obtain training certificates. Those charged included 19 brokers, who used Valor to produce the certificates within days, often overnight, prosecutors said.

Buildings Commissioner James S. Oddo said the department had begun an audit of Valor, which could result in the loss of its building permit. If that happens, the approximately 20,000 employees certified by Valor would lose their certification.

Mr Frias, 36, slipped from scaffolding at a residential building undergoing facade repairs in November 2022, falling about 15 stories and landing on top of a sidewalk shed. Workers were repairing the exterior of the 22-story tower at 263 West End Avenue, near West 72nd Street.

The scaffolding where he worked was missing some wooden planks to stand on, city inspectors discovered. According to the city’s Buildings Department, Mr. Frias was among 11 construction workers killed in 2022, an increase in construction site fatalities after a construction slowdown at the start of the pandemic. Nine of the deaths were the result of falls. Seven workers died in 2023, the lowest number in almost a decade, the ministry said.

At the heart of the criminal case is a New York City law that went into effect in March 2021 that requires construction workers on major construction sites, including most mid- and high-rise projects, to complete 40 hours of safety training. The training, called Site Safety Training, includes an eight-hour course on fall prevention.

Valor was one of more than 100 companies approved by the buildings department to provide the courses and certify that employees completed them. From December 2019 to April 2023, Valor was the third largest training provider in the city.

Valor was founded by Mr. Shaporov, who was also an investigator with the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General. The city suspended Valor as a provider in April 2023.

Prosecutors said Mr. Shaporov deposited more than $1 million into a personal bank account while operating Valor, usually in increments of several hundred dollars consistent with the amount he charged for the certificates. Mr. Shaporov used that money to buy several houses, luxury cars and a yacht, she added.

After Mr. Frias’ death, the scaffolding company he was employed by, Rennon Construction Corp., was fined $10,000 by the Department of Buildings for site safety problems, including insufficient planking and guardrails. Mr. Frias was wearing a safety harness, but it was not attached to an anchor, the department said.

“Not having all these components resulted in a fall from the walker,” an inspector wrote in a citation. According to city records, the company has not yet paid the $10,000 fine.

A representative for Rennon Construction could not be reached for comment.

Rennon Construction still operates in the city and was not part of the indictment. Mr. Bragg declined on Wednesday to say whether Mr. Frias received his training certificate directly from Valor or through another entity on his behalf.

After his death, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration found similar safety problems on scaffolding Rennon Construction had built at other locations and issued nearly $139,000 in fines.

Inspectors observed people working on scaffolding that was missing planks and handrails, with some operating 60 feet above the ground without fall protection, the administration said. Rennon has disputed a number of fines.

Last year, Mr. Frias’ widow, Brenda Torres, sued Rennon Construction and two other companies operating at the site for negligence in his death. Ms Torres declined to comment on Wednesday.

Kirsten Noyes research contributed.