Mahopac man charged for faking gas pipeline inspections

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A Mahopac man has been charged with wire fraud after allegedly faking hundreds of safety inspections on natural gas pipelines in New York City and Westchester County, according to prosecutors.

In an Aug. 28 press release from the Southern District of New York, officials said Michael Vasconcellos, 44, of Mahopac, and Liam Treibert, 30, of Wendell, N.C., were indicted on charges of posing as inspectors and submitting fraudulent records to a utility company between 2016 and 2023. Vasconcellos was arrested in New York and appeared in White Plains federal court. Treibert was arrested in North Carolina and appeared in Raleigh federal court.

According to prosecutors, Treibert and Vasconcellos lied about having inspected hundreds of welds they never actually reviewed and created fraudulent records to cover up their actions. They allegedly used a method known in the industry as “radaring,” in which duplicate X-rays of one pipeline weld were passed off as inspections of others. As a result, the company referred to in the indictment as Utility-1 paid for sham inspections and was deceived into believing its pipelines had passed critical safety tests.

“Their actions put the lives of New Yorkers at risk,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said.

According to the indictment, hundreds of welds across Utility-1’s pipelines in the Bronx and Westchester County between 2020 and 2023 were affected by the radaring scheme carried out by Treibert and Vasconcellos. Although the welds were never actually inspected, invoices for those inspections were submitted by Inspection Company-1 to Utility-1, which paid them through bank transfers. Treibert and Vasconcellos were also paid for their work during this time by Inspection Company-1.

If convicted, Vasconcellos and Treibert face up to 20 years in prison. The charges are accusations, and both men are presumed innocent unless and until proved guilty.