Inspector Indicted for Fraudulent Permitting and Corruption Scheme

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that RANDY A. FARRELL, SR. (“FARRELL”), age 61, a resident of Metairie, and his company, IECI & ASSOCIATES LLC (“IECI”)¸ were charged today in a twenty-five count indictment with conspiracy, wire fraud, and honest services fraud.  The charges stemmed from FARRELL’s acceptance of bribes to allow unlicensed electricians to obtain fraudulent permits and fraudulent home inspections on their unlicensed work, as well as FARRELL’s attempts to thwart investigations into his scheme by offering gifts to public officials.

According to the indictment, FARRELL used his status as a third-party inspector at IECI to orchestrate a years-long scheme in which he accepted bribes to let unlicensed electricians work on hundreds of New Orleans homes using licensed electricians’ names and permits, and then FARRELL and IECI fraudulently passed the inspections of the unlicensed electricians’ work. FARRELL also conspired with others to offer bribes to public officials to thwart the investigation into his scheme, including by having a City of New Orleans employee fired.

FARRELL and IECI are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349; twenty counts of wire fraud concerning specific fraudulent permits and inspections, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343; and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud regarding FARRELL’s accepting and offering of bribes, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1346, and 1349. FARRELL was also charged with three counts of honest services fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1346, in connection with specific bribes he accepted and paid.