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0 9 <br /> Enforcement News ! <br /> Water Boards <br /> Southern California Environmental Firm Ami Adini & Associates is <br /> Target of Search Warrant in Fraud Investigation <br /> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kathie Smith <br /> Oct. 18, 2012 Phone: (916) 341-5263 <br /> SACRAMENTO—On Wednesday, the State Attorney General's Office executed a search <br /> warrant at Ami Adini & Associates, Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Los Angeles. The <br /> search was conducted as part of an investigation of possible fraudulent claims submitted to the <br /> State Water Resources Control Board's (State Water Board) Underground Storage Tank <br /> Cleanup Fund (Cleanup Fund). <br /> The search took place at Ami Adini & Associates' office at 4130 Cahuenga Boulevard, Suite <br /> 113, Toluca Lake. No arrests were made, but evidence was seized as part of an ongoing <br /> investigation. The warrant was executed by agents from the State Department of Justice. <br /> Ami Adini & Associates, Inc. provides environmental consulting services involving investigation <br /> and cleanup of contaminated sites resulting from leaking underground storage tanks. The <br /> company performs work at more than 35 sites in the Southern California counties of Los <br /> Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. <br /> "The State Water Board takes fraud against the State and the Cleanup Fund very seriously," <br /> said Cris Carrigan, Director of the State Water Board's Office of Enforcement. 'We will <br /> continue to investigate indications of fraud against the Cleanup Fund and, where we discover <br /> fraud, we will prosecute criminally and/or civilly to the fullest extent allowed by law." <br /> This is the latest enforcement action based on audits and investigations by the State Water <br /> Board's Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention Unit. The Unit was formed in 2010 when a $1.2 <br /> million judgment was entered against E2C Remediation, Inc., an environmental consulting firm <br /> based in Bakersfield, to resolve allegations that it overbilled the Cleanup Fund. <br /> Since the formation of the Unit, investigations have led to the arrests of Kurt and Julie Hayden, <br /> owners of Hayden Environmental, Inc., who were charged with criminal and civil counts for <br /> fraudulently obtaining money from the Cleanup Fund. This is part of the State Water Board's <br /> ongoing overall efforts to prevent and deter fraud against the Cleanup Fund. <br /> A fact sheet on the State Water Board's efforts to prevent, investigate, and prosecute cases of <br /> fraud against the Cleanup Fund is on the State Water Board's website at: <br /> http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/publications form s/publ ications/factsheets/docs/f raud efforts f <br /> actsheet.pdf <br /> STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOAR D <br /> 7001 I Street,Sacramento,CA 95814•916.341-5254•Mailing Address:P.O.Boz 100,Sacramento,CA 95812-0100•..waterboar4s.ca.gov <br />