|
TCPalm/Indian River County
Vero Beach businessman admits to falsifying mold reports
By Elliott Jones
Originally published 06:11 p.m., April 28, 2009
Updated 06:11 p.m., April 28, 2009
VERO BEACH — A Vero Beach businessman on trial on criminal charges took the witness stand Tuesday, admitting some guilt in the operation of his mold eradication company.
Patrick Bock, 45, told jurors that following the hurricanes of 2004, he gave customers falsified mold reports from a North Carolina laboratory. He copied one of the company's blank forms and filled in numbers from his own tests, according to trial testimony.
"Right information, wrong form," Bock said during his trial. He's charged with organized fraud over $50,000, racketeering and workers compensation fraud. The charges stem from the operation of his former business, Registry Services, Inc., of Vero Beach.
The trial continues Wednesday before Senior Judge James Midelis in Indian River Circuit Court.
Bock said he filled in his own test numbers because it was taking weeks to get results from the North Carolina company, Scientific Analytical Institute Inc. He testified his tests were valid, using $12,000 in equipment including a microscope and moisture meters he purchased.
He is an honors graduate of the University of North Carolina, who initially worked for the federal Defense Intelligence Agency. But he said he gave up that out-of-state job so he could settle down and be near his wife, Lisa, who worked in Vero Beach as a fundraiser for St. Edward's School.
In Indian River County he set up a carpet- and floor-care business named Registry Services, Inc. He took seminars and courses on mold removal. Then came the hurricanes, and he began cleaning mold in dozens of homes and businesses, mostly on the barrier island.
During that time, according to trial testimony, Bock told customers he used an independent laboratory to verify that mold was present.
One of his two employees, James Hashman, of Naples, worked part-time for Bock, earning up to $80 a day. Hashman testified he learned something about mold cleanup from working on aircraft. During the 10 months he worked for Bock, Hashman said he never was on a job that didn't have mold.
And Bock said he learned from government health agencies that once mold is detected, it must be cleaned up to prevent health problems.
For the mold removal work, he charged anywhere from $1,800 to $100,000 per job, according assistant state attorneys prosecuting the case.
|
