A Mahopac safety inspector has been charged with fraud for allegedly conducting sham natural gas pipeline inspections in Eastchester and the Bronx that, if done correctly, were meant to prevent gas leaks and explosions.
A federal grand jury in White Plains indicted Michael Vasconcellos, 44, on Aug. 25. He was arrested on Aug 28 and pleaded not guilty to U.S. Magistrate Judge Victoria Reznik. He was released from custody on posting a $100,000 appearance bond.
The indictment also names Liam Treibert, 30, of Wendell, North Carolina. He was arraigned in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The men worked for Vibranalysis Inc., a Bronx company that provides testing and inspection services for construction companies and public utilities.
The indictment does not name the public utility but the details are consistent with a Con Edison gas pipeline project on California Road in Eastchester.
The job was to ensure that welds on gas pipes were done correctly, before putting pipelines into service.
The indictment describes an intricate process. Pipes that have already been placed in a trench and welded together are visually scrutinized for defective welds.
Then radiographs – essentially X-rays – are taken. Each film is meticulously labeled according to the date, precise pipeline and particular weld. Inspectors have to climb back out of the ditch and go to a safe point, to avoid radiation when the film is exposed. The process is repeated several times for each weld, so as to examine the entire circumference. Then the equipment is moved to the next weld.
The radiographs are developed on site and checked for anomalies. Then a report is sent to the utility company.
From 2020 to 2023, Vasconcellos and Treibert inspected welds along six pipelines in New York City and Westchester County. But according to the indictment, they engaged in a practice known as “radaring,” where the same weld is filmed twice and passed off as films of separate welds.
Vasconcellos, for example, allegedly radared a natural gas pipeline in Eastchester from Nov. 11 to Nov. 18, 2020.
The utility company has spent millions of dollars excavating pipes and re-examining the welds, according to the indictment. As Con Edison stated in a April 15, 2024 notice: “We are working to make repairs on previously installed pipe on California Road, from New Rochelle Road to Hewitt Avenue.”
