06.03.2011

Fraudulent crane Inspector sought

The Canadian Police are looking for a fraudulent crane inspector who has scammed cranes owners out of $40,000.

The man, Paddy Gene Doherty, 37, is alleged to have conducted machinery inspections at 27 businesses throughout Southern British Columbia between January and June of 2009. He faces 49 charges of fraud and issuing forged documents.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police allege that he inspected cranes, forklifts and garage hoists without valid certification, by using a forged signature and a forged stamp and defrauded businesses out of around $40,000 for the inspection fees charged.

Canada requires annual inspections before the erection of a tower crane and on a range of lifting equipment including mobile cranes. A person certified by the Canadian General Standards Board is supposed to carry out the inspections. A report is then sent to a professional engineer to review and provide a stamped certificate.

A police spokesman said: "More alarming than the monetary loss to the businesses is the risk to the public and workers' safety, considering that in some of the cases, the re-inspections by a certified inspector failed the equipment that had previously been approved by Doherty."