September 4th, 2007

Charges have been filed against a technical school in the area of Queens, New York, after it was found that the school, which was supposed to be training students to safely remove asbestos, had been running a scam. The school is said to have helped hundreds of students to cheat on their examinations so that they were awarded the necessary certification.

The Senagryph Training Facilities is run by a husband and wife team, and according to prosecutors the owners of the school would provide the answer to questions to any students that asked during the exam. The scam was uncovered after undercover detectives posed as students, and were given the answers to questions during the testing.

Foreigners at the school were allowed to use false social security numbers so that they could get their certification, added prosecutors. Juan Herrera, 61, and Julia Herrera, 49, the owners of the school are fighting the charges. A lawyer working for the defendants stated: They deny the allegations and they maintain their innocence."

However, the District Attorney stated: "The defendants' alleged willingness to circumvent necessary safeguards had the potential of endangering the health, safety and well-being of not just those performing asbestos abatement work but anyone else who might have been working in the area at the time that the work was done."