MIAMI – A retired Hialeah firefighter is accused of selling American Heart Association life support certifications without giving recipients any training, potentially making nearly a million dollars in the process, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Friday.
An undercover sting led to the arrest of 60-year-old Carlos Ernesto Rojas, who was a 20-year veteran of the Hialeah Fire Department, according to Rundle’s office. A news release issued by her office did not specify when Rojas retired, but it did characterize his alleged actions as presenting a danger to the public.
Rojas possessed instructor certifications in Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS), which allowed him to teach the courses.
“A broad range of professions, such as bus drivers, child-care providers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, and physicians, require BLS certifications, with individuals working in certain specialized medical areas needing additional certifications like the ACLS and PALS,” the news release said.
According to Rundle’s office, the investigation into Rojas began in 2021, after 14 individuals offered employment or promotion by Jackson Health Systems sought training from him.
“These individuals allege that they paid Rojas a total of $1140 for the necessary courses,” her office said in a news release. “They expected to receive training, but no training occurred. Instead, these individuals allegedly received electronic records (eCards) from Rojas indicating that they participated in or successfully completed a course.”
The 14 workers contacted Miami-Dade police, who launched an undercover investigation, according to the state attorney’s office.
The news release states the officer received BLS certification without any training from Rojas after electronically transferring $60. Following the exchange, the AHA sent an email congratulating the undercover officer for completing the training and providing instructions on how to claim an eCard.
“The AHA could not have known the identity of the undercover officer nor how to contact him without Rojas having provided the course completion information to AHA,” the news release states. “The undercover officer did not participate in or successfully complete any cognitive and/or skill evaluations as required by the curriculum of the AHA to receive the AHA certificates.”
According to Fernandez Rundle’s office, AHA documentation shows that Rojas issued more than 14,500 certificates on behalf of the AHA beginning in 2020, which, at $60 per card, means he may have taken in more than $870,000.
“Falsification of any certification always has the potential of placing people in danger. However, falsifications of training in life-saving techniques creates an obvious risk if a life-or-death situation arises, something these certifications were intended to avoid” Fernandez Rundle said. “I applaud the work of the Miami-Dade Police Department in ending this almost invisible danger and know that my prosecutors will quickly bring this case before the judges of our criminal courts.”
Rojas has been charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud, a third-degree felony, though Rundle’s office said the investigation remains ongoing and additional charges could follow.