Trial Begins for NY Concrete-Testing Company

New York, NY —

A jury has heard opening statements in the trial of a concrete testing company accused of faking results for some of the city's biggest construction projects. WNYC's Arun Venugopal was at the Criminal Court downtown.

REPORTER: Testwell Laboratories allegedly cut corners by fabricating test results used to determine the strength of concrete. The prosecution says this happened on 102 building projects, including the new Yankee stadium, JFK's Jet Blue terminal and the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.

Prosecutors says the company's owner, V. Reddy Kancharla, oversaw a scheme that resulted in thousands of tests being doctored. And that the company billed clients even when its inspectors were off the job. But Kancharla's lawyer says the company merely made mistakes and was transparent about it.

The trial is expected to last for months. For WNYC, I'm Arun Venugopal.