Breaking News-Sentinel Says City of Deerfield Beach Scammed Out of 300K

Deerfield-News.com-Deerfield Beach,Fl-Breaking News-Our email to the city of Deerfield Beach

Deerfield-News.com request for arrrest report from BSO of Andre Leite.

The Sun Sentinel is reporting the following -By Anne Geggis

A man masquerading as a plumber defrauded Deerfield Beach city government of about $300,000, authorities say.

Andre Leite, 50, of Coconut Creek, pleaded not guilty last week after his arrest on charges of grand theft, fraud, money laundering, forgery and being an unlicensed contractor, court records show.

Leite was the city’s go-to plumber from 2012 to 2016, working on fixing toilets and sinks at city facilities.

A state investigation found that he had illegally represented himself as a plumber, leading the state Department of Professional Regulation to fine him $12,000 in March 2017.

In an April 2016 interview, Leite told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he didn’t know what he was doing was wrong. He blamed an accountant, who he said he no longer could find, for incorrectly filling out the city’s paperwork which he signed.

“All these years, nobody said anything about it,” Leite told the Sun Sentinel at the time.

When Leite applied to be the city’s plumber, he submitted the license number of another company, which is not allowed, authorities said. The Deerfield Beach worker in charge of checking the qualifications no longer works for the city, an arrest report said.

City officials said Andre Plumbing had nothing in its performance history to indicate licensure problems. But the city terminated the contract with Leite in March 2016 — as soon as it became apparent he had misrepresented his licensing, a city spokeswoman said.

When Leite was arrested last month, authorities accused him of misrepresenting his qualifications to do the city work that resulted in more than $300,000 that he shouldn’t have gotten.

He also filed incomplete paperwork documenting his work and understated his earnings to pay an amount of workers compensation insurance that was a fraction of what Deerfield Beach paid him, authorities said.

At some point, Leite became the first plumber the city called when it needed plumbing services for its facilities due to the say-so of Frank Cristiano, the city’s facility manager, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities say Cristiano arranged to use Leite’s company, Andre Plumbing, instead of a plumbing company that had received better ratings from the committee charged with reviewing contract proposals sent to the city.

“The justifications given by Cristiano were: They are more responsive to calls, have more familiarity with Deerfield Beach facilities and have lower rates,” the report says.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office alleges Leite gave gifts to city workers, paying for them to enter a golf tournament the city and the Sheriff’s Office co-sponosored in May 2015.

Leite paid the fees for Cristiano and Bruce Dooley, a worker in Cristiano’s department who reports to him, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Upon discovering that Leite had paid for the city employees’ golf tournament fees, as problems with Leite’s contract became apparent, the city contacted the Sheriff’s Office, officials said. State ethics laws prohibit public employees from receiving gifts under certain circumstances, according to state statutes.

Neither Leite nor his lawyer, James Stark, could be reached for comment Wednesday despite phone calls. The phone number listed for Andre Plumbing wasn’t working Wednesday.

Cristiano and Dooley could not be reached for comment despite phone calls. Authorities haven’t accused them of any wrongdoing, records show.

Deerfield’s city spokeswoman said because the investigation is not over, the city isn’t commenting.