A Port Washington man is being accused of soliciting another person on Craigslist to take an emergency medical technician certification test for him in exchange for a fee.
Bernard Shore, 65, was charged with offering a false instrument for filing, criminal solicitation and official misconduct after he allegedly agreed to pay an undercover reporter $400 to impersonate him and take the exam in July, according to a press release from Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office.
“Had this defendant been able to successfully pull off this scam, his lack of qualifications could have met the difference between life and death for an innocent person,” Rice said in a statement. “It is unconscionable that Mr. Shore lied on his paperwork and then tried to cheat his way into a position of such importance.”
After failing the New York State Critical Care EMT exam in May, Shore is alleged to have placed the ad on the popular classified advertisement Web site on or about June 19 seeking an EMT-CC or paramedic to take the test for him on July 18, according to the DA’s office. EMTs are required to recertify with the state every three years by passing the exam.
The ad said Shore would provide the test-taker with an identification card and negotiate a fee based on the test-taker’s qualifications, the DA’s office said.
Initially, Shore had agreed to meet with an undercover representative from the state Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, but declined saying he’d take the exam himself, according to the DA’s office.
But according to a July 21 New York Post report, an undercover Post reporter contacted Shore and agreed to take the exam in his place in exchange for $400 and a Port Washington Fire Department ID with a photo of the reporter next to Shore’s name.
Shore allegedly told the reporter he could not take the exam at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City because of his scoliosis, in which one’s spine is curved.
The Post reporter, who was not identified in the story, arranged to meet with Shore outside the Long Island Railroad’s Port Washington station. According to the story, Shore agreed to give the reporter $100 before the exam and the remaining $300 after the test, which is scored immediately following completion.
“Just don’t take it out…tell them you lost your wallet if they ask you anything,” Shore allegedly told the Post reporter in regard to the ID card. “They won’t ask you.”
Shore also gave the reporter an envelope containing a money order for the exam’s $20 fee, the exam’s admittance paperwork and two No. 2 pencils, according to the article, and told the reporter to copy the signature Shore had written on the envelope when filling out the test.
When the Post reporter identified himself and asked Shore why he filed the ad, Shore allegedly offered to show the reporter his back, got back in his gray Subaru wagon and drove away.
“His ruse was a dangerous one that could have jeopardized the lives of the residents of Nassau County,” said state Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah in a statement. “It is a credit to the Nassau County DA’s office, the state Department of Health and Port Washington Dire Department that Mr. Shore’s plot was uncovered.”
According to Rice’s office, Shore was also charged with signing and filing a test application on Feb. 13, 2013 falsely affirming he had not been previously convicted of a misdemeanor or felony. In 1986, Shore was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation after he was convicted in Suffolk County of felony attempted insurance fraud.
