All built on 'lies'
Architect 'fake' as in 'Seinfeld'
An upstate man lived out one of George Costanza’s fantasies by posing as an architect.
But unlike Jerry Seinfeld’s TV sidekick, Paul Newman — yes, Paul Newman — actually drafted plans for more than 100 completed building projects, officials said Thursday.
The real-life plot was so “Seinfeld”-ian that state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman dubbed his investigation “Operation Vandelay Industries” in a nod to the classic TV sitcom.
Newman was slapped with three indictments that charge him with fraudulently filing architectural drawings for six projects in and around Albany.
They include a development of 70-plus town houses, two multistory “senior living communities” and a 214-unit apartment complex.
Newman, who was paid more than $200,000 for work that dates to 2010, pulled off the scam by swiping the license number of a real architect, according to the AG’s Office.
He allegedly used it to create a phony “registered architect stamp” and falsely validate the documents he submitted.
Albany Director of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance Director Robert Magee said officials went back and found no problems with Newman’s work on a senior-living center after learning of his alleged fraud.
In 2015, Newman was fined more than $10,000 in Florida for practicing architecture there without a license, according to a report published at the time.
Newman also has a misdemeanor conviction for forging a New York state vehicle-inspection certificate, according to Schneiderman’s office.
Developer N. Robert Hayes, who hired Newman in connection with a 212-unit apartment project in the town of Malta that’s part of the AG’s case, insisted Newman never passed himself off as an architect.
Hayes said Newman “didn’t do any of the structural designs” for The Lofts at Saratoga BLVD.
Newman was arraigned Monday and Wednesday on 58 felony charges — including grand larceny, forgery and scheme to defraud — and held without bail in the Saratoga County jail.
His defense lawyer didn’t return requests for comment.
Schneiderman’s use of the name Vandelay comes from a “Seinfeld” episode in which George, played by Jason Alexander, claimed to have sought work as an architect with “Vandelay Industries.”
The name “Art Vandelay” became a running gag throughout the series.