Firefighters Pay Hefty Toll For Phony Diplomas

By ARI PAUL

The Fire Department has fined 14 firefighters roughly $135,000 collectively for supplying the department with bogus diplomas in order to advance their careers, the Department of Investigation announced Sept. 7.

JOHN J. McDONNELL: 'Tuition' too steep.

The DOI found that the 14 - all but one of them fire officers - had provided the FDNY with fake degrees bought on the Internet from St. Regis University and other phony educational institutions. Some of these members used the degrees to secure tenure in and quicken promotion to ranks as high as Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief. One person used such a degree to gain appointment as a Probationary Firefighter.

'Undercut Colleagues'

"The significant fines levied against these 14 Fire Department members underscore the findings of DOI's Report on this matter," DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement. "These individuals chose not to earn their college degrees honestly, undercutting the diligence and hard work of those members who legitimately satisfied educational requirements for promotions and appointments. To its credit, the Fire Department has responded by tightening the procedures by which it verifies degrees. DOI will continue to remain vigilant on this issue."

Two Deputy Chiefs and one Battalion Chief were fined 60 days' pay. Five Captains and three Battalion Chiefs lost the equivalent of 20 days' wages. Two Lieutenants received 20-day fines, and the Firefighter was docked 15 days' pay.

No further action will be taken against the 14 firefighters, an FDNY spokesman confirmed.

The Uniformed Fire Officers Association criticized the penalties as excessive.

Injury Added to Insult

"This is one of the most egregious matters that this union has had to face this year, because 13 of our members were charged with monetary penalties for what the department described as fraudulent behavior," said UFOA President John J. McDonnell. "These monetary fines were more than anyone expected and did not fit the crime. Perhaps worse than the fines was the embarrassing and insulting media coverage."

With only one of its members penalized, the Uniformed Firefighters Association chose not to comment on the case.

Calling the 13 officers involved "good guys," Battalion Chief McDonnell said he was glad that the FDNY considered it a closed case.

"I think it's good in the sense that these guys aren't going anywhere," he said. "They still have years ahead of them. They don't want this thing hanging over their head."