Asbestos removal training fraud

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has added Albania Deleon, former president of an asbestos removal training school, to its fugitives website after she failed to appear for her sentencing on March 23, according to a press release.

Last November, Deleon was convicted of selling certificates from Environmental Compliance Training in Methuen, MA, which shut down in May 2007, to hundreds of illegal immigrants who had not taken the mandatory training course, the release stated.

According to the release, hundreds of untrained and undocumented illegals were sent to asbestos demolition sites in Massachusetts and other New England states after filing falsified documents with the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety.

Deleon, who employed the illegals through her temporary employment agency and paid them "under the table," failed to report the employees to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and workers compensation organizations, allowing her to save more than $1 million dollars in tax and insurance payments, the release noted.

Deleon was convicted on 28 felony counts, including one count of conspiracy in making false statements, encouraging illegal aliens to reside in the U.S., and hiring illegal aliens; five counts of making false statements; sixteen counts of procuring false payroll tax returns; and six counts of mail fraud, the release added.

Any information on Deleon's whereabouts should be reported to the EPA Criminal Investigation Division office in Boston, Massachusetts, at 1-617-918-2300.