A critical-care EMT from Long Island – who offered $400 to an undercover Post reporter to take his mandatory state-certification exam – was arrested today and faces up to four years in jail for the scam.
Bernard Shore, 65, was charged with criminal solicitation, offering a false instrument for filing and official misconduct, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said.
In May Shore, a 10-year volunteer EMT with the Port Washington Fide Department, failed the state exam that all EMTs need to pass every three years to be recertified, Rice said.
He applied to retake the exam on July 18 – but to make sure he passed it, he placed an ad on Craigslist in June seeking a paramedic or EMT-critical care to impersonate him.
Rice said an undercover from the state Department of Health contacted Shore, who offered him $400 and a forged Port Washington Fire Department ID card to take the test for him.
Separately, an undercover Post reporter, working with a retired New York paramedic also contacted Shore and was also offered $400 to take the exam.
Rice said Shore contacted the Health Department undercover on July 16 and said he had changed his mind and would take the test himself.
On the same day he met with the Post reporter and handed over a fistful of $20 bills and a fake ID to seal the deal. When the reporter identified himself, Shore got into his car and sped away.
The Post revealed the scam on July 21 and Shore was fired a week later.
“His ruse was a dangerous one that could have jeopardized the lives of residents of Nassau County,” State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah said today.
“Had this defendant been able to successfully pull off this scam, his lack of qualifications could have meant the difference between life and death for an innocent person,” Rice said.