CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — An Ontario engineer who changed the date on an expired professional stamp and then used it to approve structural designs for a condominium building project in P.E.I. has avoided a jail sentence.
On March 25 in P.E.I. Supreme Court, Justice Nancy Key accepted a joint recommendation from Crown attorney Bridget Morriscey and defence lawyer Scott Barry and sentenced the offender – Hussein Ismail Makke – to a three-month conditional discharge.
Makke, 33, who is from Ottawa, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3, 2023, to a charge of knowingly causing the Town of Stratford to act upon a forged Engineers P.E.I. licence to practise stamp as if it were genuine.
Makke appeared in court by video from Ontario for sentencing.
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Agreed statement of facts
According to an agreed statement of facts, on May 15, 2018, Makke received a temporary certificate of licence to practise engineering from Engineers P.E.I. Makke also received a licence to practise stamp that expired at the end of the year.
Makke paid $580 in fees and dues in support of his application to work on a one-time project involving two, four-unit condominium townhouses in Stratford being built by Whitestone Construction.
Makke was hired by Whitestone to approve the structural plans and make sure they were in compliance with the National Building Code. This was required by the Town of Stratford in order for Whitestone to be issued occupancy permits.
Engineers P.E.I. contacted Makke in October 2018 about renewing his license. Makke was also contacted on Nov. 6, 2018, and on March 7 and March 26 of 2019. Makke did not respond to the communications from Engineers P.E.I.
Changed date on expired stamp
On July 5, 2019, Makke certified the condominium project's structural plans using the expired 2018 stamp. He did so by changing the "8" in 2018 to a "9" to reflect the year 2019 and to make the stamp appear valid for that year.
On March 29, 2021, Engineers P.E.I. received a complaint from one of the condominium owners. Engineers P.E.I. also discovered that Makke used a forged stamp when he approved the structural plans roughly 20 months earlier.
Complaint to RCMP
Engineers P.E.I. contacted Makke about the forged stamp. Makke replied and noted he was in good standing with his Ontario licence.
"I only had this one project on the go that was being closed out. I thought the stamp would be pro-rated for the time (as the project was set to be complete prior to the time it actually was)," Makke further explained in the agreed statement of facts.
Makke also said that he would be happy to pay all outstanding fees and that he sincerely apologized for the "mishap."
Engineers P.E.I. reported the matter to the RCMP.
Conditional discharge
Key explained that a conditional discharge must be in an offender's best interest and not contrary to the public interest. A conditional discharge was in Makke's best interest since a criminal conviction could have led to him being fired from his job as a director with an engineering company in Ontario, said Key.
Makke was employed with the company at the time of the offence. However, he worked on the Stratford building project as a "side project."
Makke did not have a prior criminal record.
In terms of not being contrary to the public interest, Key explained the offence happened once and was not a common offence. As well, the offence was not motivated by profit, said Key. Instead, Makke made the "deliberate choice" to modify the stamp due to financial strain and to avoid a $500 license renewal fee.
Makke also experienced a loss of income as a result of his license being suspended by Professional Engineers Ontario for three months due to the offence. That professional consequence is a matter of public record and should inform and deter others, said Key.
Sentence
In order to avoid a criminal conviction, the conditions in a probation order that Makke must follow for three months include keeping the peace and being of good behaviour, appear before the court when required and notify the court or his probation officer of any change of address or employment.
Makke is also required to write letters of apology to individuals and organizations that filed community impact statements with the court.
In addition, Key ordered Makke to pay $500 to Engineers P.E.I. (the amount of a licence renewal) and $10,000 to the Queens County Condominium Corporation No. 57.
Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and can be followed on X @terry_mcn.
