Feds finally caught up with Maurice from Beer Radio

Thanks for posting. Always wondered what happened to him.

Dang! I actually had the FBI come to my house in WA State last year asking about Maurice. I’m hoping I don’t get subpoenaed as a witness. I actually went through his whole class and not his “straight to certificate” monetary exchange.

hard to believe you could do this inside somebodies business and they didnt notice…hmmmm?

[QUOTE=powerabout;193715]hard to believe you could do this inside somebodies business and they didnt notice…hmmmm?[/QUOTE]

What’s so difficult about cranking out a bunch of certificates on the digital printer when nobody’s looking?

No he was apparently giving out the books that come directly from the Nautical Institute and have serial numbers and other stuff. So it was not just a case of cranking up a printer in the office.

[QUOTE=Jemplayer;193718]No he was apparently giving out the books that come directly from the Nautical Institute and have serial numbers and other stuff. So it was not just a case of cranking up a printer in the office.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for the clarification.

Winter is here

It was a widely known “secret” (not really secret) in the oil patch fleet. Word got around that you could show up for the week long DP induction class on Monday, pay Maurice like $1500 cash, and he would hand you the NI logbook and cert and send you on your way. This was back in the wild and crazy days of 2012, 2013 I believe, when I heard about it. It was the cool thing to do amongst the money chasing DP guys.

[QUOTE=Slick Cam;193724]It was a widely known “secret” (not really secret) in the oil patch fleet. Word got around that you could show up for the week long DP induction class on Monday, pay Maurice like $1500 cash, and he would hand you the NI logbook and cert and send you on your way. This was back in the wild and crazy days of 2012, 2013 I believe, when I heard about it. It was the cool thing to do amongst the money chasing DP guys.[/QUOTE]

And it was also the cool thing to do at more than one OSV operator in Louisiana. Maurice also generated income (embezzled) by virtue of crew coordinators and HR / Training mgrs sending guys right to him after mid week crew changes in Fourchon to “start” their 4-5 day basic or advanced DP class that started on Monday and ended on Thursday or Friday. Amongst others, St Rose was totally in bed with Maurice. He didn’t act alone, not by a long shot.

“They added it is believed he accepted more than 200 payments”

Is that 200 DP tickets about to be invalidated?

Looks like a few jobs might come on the market soon.

Not likely, you can’t throw a dead cat without knocking over a dozen mates down here.

Nautical Institute is probably all over this. Thankfully I attended DP basic in 2011 at Falk-Alford.
For what it’s worth, I attended ECDIS about 2 years ago at Beier and was very impressed with the quality of training. It’s obvious they are trying hard to overcome this mess.

When the NI was processing my application, there was a special list for those that took classes at Beier. Essentially, they needed proof of attendance. If I remember correctly, if you were on the list you were ok cause you signed the sheet every morning. This was end of 2014. If not, you were probably in limbo for a long time or had to redo the class.

Not just confined to the bayou, the NI had a similar problem in Brazil with the government training facility

I wonder if there would be more repercussions for the school itself if this were a USCG approved course? Or how much did the Coast Guard have to do with the investigation?

[QUOTE=Capt Bulkhead;193810]I wonder if there would be more repercussions for the school itself if this were a USCG approved course? Or how much did the Coast Guard have to do with the investigation?[/QUOTE]
indirectly it is a certificate recognised by USCG for us by US mariners on US vessels
The IMO recognises is as training now as well.

[QUOTE=Slick Cam;193724]It was a widely known “secret” (not really secret) in the oil patch fleet. Word got around that you could show up for the week long DP induction class on Monday, pay Maurice like $1500 cash, and he would hand you the NI logbook and cert and send you on your way. This was back in the wild and crazy days of 2012, 2013 I believe, when I heard about it. It was the cool thing to do amongst the money chasing DP guys.[/QUOTE]

So this has been going on since 2012 at least? If that is the case and there are how many DP certificates fraudulently issued after zero training?

How many disasters or even incidents related to incompetent DP operators have been attributed to this scam?

None? Well, what does that say about the value of the training and the whole NI program which itself has the aroma of a scam?

Because most of what you learn is on the job and the hundreds of DP days to fulfill the certificate requirements.

Note: the investigation alleged the scam had been going on since 2007. It was only in 2012 when I heard folks bragging about the “sweet deal” they had discovered. These folks also mentioned that Maurice had told them “you’ll learn it all on the job anyways so it don’t matter”

[QUOTE=Slick Cam;193829]Note: the investigation alleged the scam had been going on since 2007. It was only in 2012 when I heard folks bragging about the “sweet deal” they had discovered. These folks also mentioned that Maurice had told them “you’ll learn it all on the job anyways so it don’t matter”[/QUOTE]

Well, that speaks volumes about the validity of the NI scam doesn’t it? I have always thought it was a scam that the CG recognizes a foreign “certification” mill for a job that it doesn’t even have an approved course or certificate for.