Ten arrested in alleged test-taking scheme for elevator mechanics at MIA

Prosecutors on Thursday announced criminal charges against 10 former elevator mechanics at Miami International Airport accused of paying someone to take state certification tests for them.

The mechanics, working for two elevator contractors employed by Miami-Dade County at MIA, paid up to $400 to have a local supervisor take the online, open-book state exam required for some mechanical positions in Florida.

Some of the mechanics charged were recruited from Puerto Rico, where the certifications aren’t required, according to a summary of a county investigation into the matter.

READ MORE: Miami-Dade fires an MIA elevator contractor. Was it for safety or to reward a union?

Oracle, the contractor with the most employees charged in the alleged scheme, fired the workers when the allegations first came to light in 2021. MIA also inspected elevators, escalators and walkways where the mechanics had worked but found no safety issue, according to a press release by the State Attorney’s Office announcing the felony charges.

The arrests are the latest fallout from MIA’s ongoing tension with rival elevator contractors and the union representing the private-sector mechanics working at the county-run airport. In June, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava fired Oracle from its MIA maintenance contract, citing safety concerns.

That followed a campaign by the International Union of Elevator Constructors to oust Oracle over its safety record, an effort that included organizers handing out anti-Oracle leaflets at MIA.

The union first uncovered the alleged test-taking scheme, which involved an Oracle supervisor taking the tests. At the time, Oracle executives said they weren’t aware of the operation and suspended and then fired the employees involved after “a comprehensive internal investigation” that the company said Thursday it disclosed to state regulators.

Miami-Dade’s Inspector General Office investigated the union’s claims of the test-taking scheme, referring its findings to prosecutors.

A report released Thursday by the Inspector General said two of the people charged Thursday previously worked for Schindler, another MIA elevator contractor that picked up Oracle’s contract after the company’s firing by the mayor.

The elevator union represents Schindler workers but not employees of Oracle. Oracle called its firing “politically motivated” and filed suit against Miami-Dade. The case was dismissed Nov. 2, according to Natalia Jaramillo, spokesperson for Levine Cava.

Prosecutors and investigators said the people charged in the test-taking scheme paid David Valles-Gomez, then an Oracle supervisor, and another former Oracle worker, between $250 and $400 for Valles-Gomez to take the online tests under their names.

The Inspector General report lists exams taken under the charged employees’ names, shows two failed the exams before being marked as passed after an allegedly fraudulent test. The exams were taken between 2019 and 2021.

Along with Valles-Gomez, those charged with criminal cheating and a scheme to defraud are: Gabriel Alfonso, Xael Concepcion-Vargas, Jose Cuevas-Romero, Ramon Fleitas, Marcos Garcia, Hugo Marte, Gabriel Ortiz, Jose Tirado-Blanco and Frederick Williams.

“The personal safety of every individual in Miami-Dade County must always be a paramount concern,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “When someone tries to shortcut a public safety requirement or certification, they go out of their way to create an unnecessary risk.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 8:15 PM.