Plumbing Inspector Flushed Out After Taking $500 Bribe

By MIA GOLDBERG

A Plumbing Inspector was arrested April 29 for allegedly soliciting and accepting a $500 bribe from a Staten Island plumbing contractor in exchange for falsifying inspection certificates, according to a statement by the Department of Investigation.

FRANKIE LAKHASINGH: Career circling the drain?

Frankie Lakhasingh, 57, has been employed by the Department of Buildings since 2007, assigned to the Staten Island House Connection Unit to inspect residential plumbing connections to ensure that they are in compliance with city regulations. He earns $49,778 annually.

Rough Time for Agency

This is the latest blow to the agency's reputation, following a recent pattern of mistakes, mismanagement and lack of oversight that led to the resignation of Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster. Construction site accidents have killed 13 people so far this year, just one fewer than in all of 2007.

The DOB's Acting Commissioner Robert LiMandri said, "Today's arrest is a testament to our zero-tolerance policy for employees who engage in misconduct."

DOI began an undercover investigation targeting Mr. Lakhasingh in March based on information that he solicited money from a plumbing contractor to issue Certificates of Inspection for two sewer connections at two Staten Island homes.

According to the criminal court complaint, Mr. Lakhasingh accepted cash on April 18 in exchange for issuing a passing inspection for two separate projects performed by the contractor.

On the same day Mr. Lakhasingh supposedly inspected the site, DOI investigators visited and found both sewers covered in dirt, making it unlikely that any inspection took place.

"Corruption by a DOB Inspector charged with taking a bribe has reared its head again," said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

Mr. Lakhasingh is charged with two counts each of Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree, a Class D felony; Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and Official Misconduct, also a Class A misdemeanor. If convicted on the felony counts, Mr. Lakhasingh faces up to seven years in prison.