BK Developers Hid Asbestos With 'Dangerous Shortcuts,' DA Says

GREENWOOD, BROOKLYN — Developers who took "dangerous shortcuts" and bypassed anti-asbestos safety measures to maximize their profits now face criminal charges, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

Five developers were charged with conspiracy and fraud for failing to report asbestos — a toxic mineral that can cause lung disease and cancer — in two buildings at 816A and 817A Fifth Ave., prosecutors said.

Carmine Casale, 45, Edmund Farkouh, 55, Richard Juliano, 43, Scott Schnall, 50, and Shirley Swift, 55, stand accused of filing forged documents and covering up asbestos — ducking the costs of abatement — to obtain demolition permits from the Department of Buildings, according to prosecutors.

The developers were charged with conspiracy, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records, forgery, reckless endangerment, and related charges in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

Two businesses — 5th Avenue 816, L.L.C. and Scott Schnall, P.E. — were also named in the 61-count indictment, prosecutors said.

Bail was set at $20,000 cash for Juliano and Casale; $10,000 cash for Schnall and Farkouh; and released Swift was released without bail, said prosecutors.

The five are expected to return to court on Nov. 28.

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