Bernard Shore provided a manufactured ID to an undercover Post reporter to take a certification exam in his stead. (
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His cheating ways could become a matter of life and death.
Bernard Shore, a volunteer critical-care EMT, offered $400 to an undercover Post reporter to take his mandatory state-certification exam — and created a fake ID to carry out the alarming scam.
The scheme was hatched on June 19 when the EMT with the Port Washington, LI, Fire Department posted a brazen ad on Craigslist:
“I am looking for a EMT-CC or Paramedic to take the state test for me. Must be a male age 40+ I will take care of the ID.
“Contact me tru [sic] this site. I am refreshing after 12 years and I have a disability that I cant sit for 3-4 hours. I would do it myself if I could.”
Assisted by a retired New York paramedic, The Post responded to the ad, starting an e-mail and telephone correspondence with Shore, 64.
He explained he pilots a fire-rescue boat but couldn’t take the exam last Thursday because of scoliosis, a condition in which the spine is curved.
In a July 9 e-mail, he attached five multiple-choice questions from the 2013 Nassau County EMS Academy final exam, which poses queries such as: “Physical signs of hypoglycemia may include tachycardia and . . .”
“Please answer these questions and get back to me — tell me how much you want $400 is what I am offering,” he wrote, signing his name “Bob.”
Satisfied the answers supplied by The Post’s confederate were correct, he then requested a photo of the test-taker in order to have a fake ID made. The hired test-taker might need photo ID to take the exam at La Guardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, he explained.
Two days later, he wrote, “One idea I had was the night of the test I drive you to LIC and wait for you there . . . Give you $$$$$.”
This time he signed off as “Bernie.”
Shore — who admitted in a later phone call that he was “very nervous” about the scam — finally arranged to meet outside the Port Washington LIRR train station, where he would hand over the phony ID and $100. He said he would pay the $300 balance after the test, which is scored on the spot.
At the meeting Tuesday, he invited the undercover reporter into his gray Subaru wagon — the stereo playing Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” — and quickly handed over the newly made ID.
The Port Washington Fire Department card showed a photo of the reporter next to the name Bernard Shore.
“Just don’t take it out . . . tell them you lost your wallet if they ask you anything,” he said, referring to the crudely rendered fake. “They won’t ask you.”
He then passed an envelope with a $20 money order for the exam fee, admittance paperwork and two No. 2 pencils.
“Listen, I put my signature over here so you could try to copy it,” he said, pointing to his John Hancock on an envelope. The test-taker is required to sign the exam.
As he forked over a fistful of twenties, The Post reporter identified himself and asked why he did it.
“I’ll show you my back,” a stunned Shore said as he got out of the car.
But he suddenly dashed back inside the vehicle, barking at the reporter, who was holding the passenger door, “Get off!”
He then sped away, door still open.
Insiders say Shore’s scheme shows how easily the system can be gamed.
“Based on fraudulent test results, the state, county and fire department would let him administer life-saving medications and perform procedures such as intubation, defibrillation, starting an IV, drawing blood and reading an EKG,” said the retired NY paramedic.
“We don’t allow someone to do a home inspection without passing an exam. You’re going to let someone who could save your life or the life or a loved one?”
Port Washington Fire Department EMTs get no salary but collect a slew of perks, including a 10 percent property-tax exemption (an average savings of $863 a year), a pension of up to $800 a month and free life insurance, the department Web site says.
Records show Shore has been president of Medsafe Systems, a telemetering-instrument company, lives in a $840,000 home near Hempstead Harbor, LI, with a well-manicured lawn, and owns a 13-foot pleasure boat.
The state Department of Health requires New York EMTs to take practical-skills and written tests every three years to remain licensed.
Criminal charges for such a scheme could include offering a false instrument for filing — which carries a maximum jail time of four years; forgery — a seven-year max jail time; and criminal impersonation and possession of a forged instrument, a law-enforcement source said.
Cheating on certification exams is nothing new. In 2007, The Post obtained an FDNY memo that called complaints of fraud “widespread and from all five boroughs.”
But the Craigslist ad is a twist, the retired paramedic marveled: “Never have I heard of anyone doing anything that stupid.”