A Troy, N.Y., man has been indicted for allegedly posing as a licensed architect in order to secure work on a half-dozen building projects around the Albany area.
Paul J. Newman of Cohesion Studios Inc. has been charged with defrauding construction companies, business owners, and local governments. The New York Attorney General's office alleges that Newman drafted architectural renderings for more than 100 properties including some for multiple large housing projects.
Newman also allegedly submitted foundation inspections, field reports, energy compliance certificates, and engineer letters to multiple towns and cities falsely certifying that he was a licensed architect. The state attorney general’s office alleges that Newman forged state a Registered Architect stamp or Professional Engineer stamp crafted from registration numbers and signatures borrowed from an actual architect and engineer.
Newman reportedly was assessed a $4,500 fine by the Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design for doing work on a church project without the proper licensing. Newman is the sole employee of Cohesion Studios, according to prosecutors. Newman allegedly did work in a number of other states and places, including Puerto Rico and Brazil. He could receive a sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.
Related Stories
| Jul 12, 2012
Contractors have increasing concerns over new federal hiring quotas
A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to increase disabled- and veteran-worker hiring quotas for federal contractors continues to raise deep concerns among contractors.
| Jul 5, 2012
Veterans Administration threatens to pull contract on new Orlando medical center
The Veterans Administration asked contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to get more workers on the job and figure out a way to get the job done faster, or the VA would pull the contract on the much-delayed Orlando VA Medical Center.
| Jul 5, 2012
Cost to contractors for new federal hiring quotas much higher than estimated, AGC says
Administration officials significantly underestimated the cost to construction employers of proposed new hiring quotas for federal contractors, according to analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jul 5, 2012
Roof membrane could have prevented roof parking deck collapse, specialist says
The collapse of a section of a roof parking deck at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake in Ontario, Canada could have been prevented if the structure had a membrane, according to a concrete expert and specialist in structure analysis at McMaster University.
| Jul 5, 2012
New Joplin, Mo. hospital being built to withstand tornado that destroyed predecessor
After the May 22, 2011, EF-5 tornado destroyed St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., architects and engineers analyzed how the nine-story structure reacted to the storm.
| Jul 5, 2012
Continued tax breaks necessary for widespread adoption of net zero buildings
Tax breaks passed by the U.S. government to encourage construction of green buildings are set to expire in 2012 and 2013.
| Jun 28, 2012
Six buildings now recognized under Living Building Challenge
The Living Building Challenge (LBC), a green ratings system for design and construction that judges a building based on its actual performance, not just its projected performance at the design stage, has recognized six buildings to date.
| Jun 28, 2012
Label for building products will have ‘global warming number’
The director of the 2030 Challenge for Products says that the organization is aiming to place a label on building products that will list what’s in it, and how much embodied carbon each product represents.