A Florida man allegedly posed as his dead father to sign off on hundreds of building inspections, racking up $3.6 million in fines—and exposing just how broken and easy-to-exploit our licensing systems have become.
At a Glance
- Enrique Fernandez Jr. allegedly used his deceased father’s engineering license to perform 724 building inspections across South Florida.
- Regulators say he altered state records to assume his father’s professional identity, submitting reports for plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems.
- The Florida Board of Professional Engineers filed 724 administrative complaints, seeking $3.6 million in fines and possible license revocation.
- Law enforcement is considering criminal charges, but prosecution is complicated by legal technicalities and lack of a clear, direct victim.
- All affected projects have been re-inspected, reportedly with no immediate structural safety risks found.
A System Ripe for Abuse: How a Deceased Engineer “Kept Working”
Enrique Fernandez Jr., a resident of South Florida, stands accused of orchestrating a scheme that would be laughable—if it weren’t so dangerous. According to state regulators, Fernandez Jr. renewed and hijacked his late father’s engineering license after his father’s death in 2018, changing contact information so all official correspondence now came to him. He then signed off on a staggering 724 inspections for multiple private firms, using the very credentials that should have been retired with his father’s passing. The case only came to light in 2024 after investigative reporters at Local10 News noticed inspection reports bearing the same name and license number, years after the original license-holder’s death.
Authorities say the fraud spanned major South Florida jurisdictions—Miami Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami-Dade County. Fernandez Jr. isn’t accused of forging a few signatures in some forgotten backwater. No, this was broad daylight, under the noses of every regulator supposedly keeping us safe. The reports covered plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems—thankfully not structural integrity, according to local officials, but the idea that hundreds of building inspections could be rubber-stamped by a ghost should send a chill down anyone’s spine.
Regulatory Lapses and Private Provider Pitfalls
Private engineering firms—NV5, JEM Inspections and Engineering, Winmar Construction, and E&K Engineering—unknowingly hired Fernandez Jr. for inspections. After the story broke, all these firms scrambled to terminate him and re-inspect the work he’d signed off on. The oversight failures don’t end there. The Florida Board of Professional Engineers, the very body tasked with safeguarding public safety, missed the red flags for years. Only after the media’s intervention did they launch an investigation, resulting in a 724-count administrative complaint—one for each fraudulent inspection, a fine of $5,000 per violation, and the threat of permanent license revocation for Fernandez Jr.
The Tavistock Development Company, in charge of some affected projects, reported no immediate safety issues after re-inspections. Still, the damage to public trust and the façade of regulatory competence is done. Fernandez Jr., through his attorney, denies forging reports or endangering safety but has yet to provide any credible documentation to back his story. The engineering firms, now facing reputational headaches and potential liability, insist they’ve cleaned house and closed every loophole they can find.
Accountability Dodged, Systemic Reform Demanded
As of July 2025, Fernandez Jr. faces a mountain of fines but—get this—no criminal charges, at least not yet. Law enforcement agencies are still wringing their hands over jurisdictional disputes and the technicality that there may not be a “direct victim.” This is the kind of bureaucratic tap dance that lets fraudsters run wild while law-abiding professionals get buried in paperwork and compliance costs. If you or I tried to fudge a document or misrepresent ourselves to the government, we’d be hit with the full force of the law. But in this case, the system’s own lax standards and lack of cross-checks made it easy for a determined fraudster to exploit the holes for years, undetected.
The ripple effects of this scandal are already being felt. State regulators are under pressure to overhaul their licensing processes, with likely policy changes on the horizon to close the gaping holes exposed by this case. The engineering and construction industries are bracing for stiffer compliance requirements and more thorough background checks. The public, meanwhile, is left to wonder how many other “licensed” professionals are ghosts in the machine—until the next disaster or exposé uncovers the truth.
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