Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA Business team work

A federal jury in Atlanta has convicted the former operator and co-owner of the National Vocation Group job-staffing company of wire fraud for selling fake training certificates, according to a statement on the U.S. Department of Justice website.

A second defendant and co-owner, Ahmad McCormick, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August, 2017.

“(Erick)Powell and his co-defendant used their company to dupe hundreds of job-seekers into paying high fees for unnecessary training with the expectation of placement in jobs that did not exist,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak.

Powell told his victims they were applying for legitimate jobs that required certain Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) certifications when, in fact, they were not. Powell and his co-conspirators used phony online job postings to lure applicants into fraudulently paying their company for unnecessary OSHA training certifications.

Powell and Ahmad McCormick operated a fraudulent job-staffing company in Atlanta, Ga., called National Vocation Group (NVG) from August 2015 through October 2015.  Powell and McCormick used Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter.com to advertise open and available jobs in the housekeeping and maintenance industries that paid above-average wages.

These advertisements falsely represented that NVG had existing contracts with commercial cleaning companies in the Atlanta area; that the jobs paid above-average wages of up to $17/hour; and that NVG could place its clients in these high-paying jobs.

When NVG’s job applicant clients were interviewed by NVG, the applicants were told that, to be hired for the advertised jobs, they would have to pay $349 for certain OSHA training.

The applicants were told that federal law required housecleaning and maintenance workers to take the OSHA General Industries Course before starting work in the advertised jobs.

Hundreds of applicants paid the $349 fee based on NVG’s false representations, and took the OSHA course as required, but none of those applicants received the high-paying jobs they were promised.

Read the full statement.