Valor, Redcode and SST Schools Charged: Workers Paid the Price

You paid for the class. You got the card. You showed up to work.

Then somebody at the gate tells you the card is dead and you’re going home.

Who did something wrong there? Not you, maybe. Maybe you did sort of know. We’ll get to that. Either way, who’s standing there with a worthless piece of plastic? You.

The list isn’t the whole story

Here’s the part nobody likes to say out loud.

In recent years, NYC prosecutors have charged SST schools with selling cards without the training. At least one of them was an approved NYC DOB provider. Not a pop-up in a parking lot. It had the paperwork. It looked legit.

And NYC DOB has disabled thousands of cards at once, sending workers back to class. Details next.

So yes, check the NYC DOB Registered Course Provider List. Absolutely do that. But being on the list is the starting line, not the finish. Plenty of people on the list do it right. Some cut corners anyway. The list can’t tell you which is which. Your eyes can.

The real cases

These are public record, so we’re naming them. Everything below comes from city and district attorney releases, linked right in the text. We say what the releases say. No more.

Valor Security & Investigations: 20,000 cards

This one was an approved provider. On the list. Open for business. (NYC DOB’s own release calls it “Valor Consulting.” The Manhattan DA and the Department of Investigation use Valor Security & Investigations.)

NYC DOB suspended Valor’s ability to train and issue SST cards in April 2023. In February 2024, the Manhattan DA, the Department of Investigation and NYC DOB announced an indictment of Valor and six of its executives and employees. Prosecutors alleged that between December 2019 and April 2023, Valor issued safety certificates and cards to about 20,000 students.

Then, in April 2024, NYC DOB disabled every Valor card: more than 20,000, with about 17,000 of them active. That’s real people using them to get on real sites.

Those workers were barred from SST sites until they got a new card from an approved provider. Turned away at the gate, card in hand. Every day off the site is a day without a paycheck.

Around seventeen thousand working people got fucked. Not by an inspector. By a card they’d paid for.

In June 2025, Valor and its president, Alexander Shaporov, pleaded guilty, according to the Manhattan DA’s announcement. The charges they pleaded to included attempted enterprise corruption and ten counts of offering a false instrument. The DA says they admitted issuing cards for a fee, certifying 40 hours of training, without providing the training. Valor also lost its security license.

One more piece, and we’ll be careful with it. A worker died in a fall in 2022. Valor and its president pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment connected to failing to give him the training he needed. That’s what the plea says. No more, no less.

Redcode Inc.: charged, not convicted

September 2026. Brooklyn prosecutors announced an indictment of Redcode Inc., its owner and an associate. Say it plainly: they’re charged, not convicted. An indictment is an accusation, not proof of guilt, and they’re presumed innocent until a court says otherwise.

What isn’t an accusation is what NYC DOB did. It invalidated every SST certificate Redcode issued. Affected workers got a 90-day window, through December 7, 2026, to complete the required training. During the window, those cards still scan as active. After it, they don’t.

And here’s the part nobody tells you. Charged, convicted, cleared: none of it fixes your card. Your card is dead today. Criminal cases take years. Valor went from suspension in April 2023 to a guilty plea in June 2025. You going to sit home that long waiting on a courtroom? Waiting on the jokers who sold you a dead card? Nah. Get retrained, get your card, get back to work.

If your card came from a company like that, don’t wait for the court. Retrain with Predictive Safety: online, at your own pace, in English or Spanish. Your record goes into Training Connect, and your card is processed immediately, typically in hand within 48 hours.

Brooklyn, 2023: Odessa Safety and National Site Safety

In April 2023, Brooklyn prosecutors and the NYC Department of Investigation announced charges against Odessa Safety, Inc. and National Site Safety LLC, and their owners. The release says Department of Investigation undercovers bought phony OSHA and SST cards from Odessa Safety, and were told to fill in attendance sheets without attending a class. It also says an undercover bought a fraudulent OSHA 30 card from National Site Safety’s owner. Those are charges. Charges are allegations.

What the filings have in common

Paperwork on one side. Classroom on the other. In Valor’s case, the school admitted it. For the rest, the courts will decide, and everyone charged is presumed innocent until they do.

But here’s what doesn’t need a verdict. When a school falls apart, the person holding the card pays for it. The school’s problem becomes the worker’s problem.

When the school goes down, you go down with it

The school made the money. Guess who gets the bill.

Your card gets disabled. One day it works. Next day it doesn’t scan.

You get turned away at the gate. No valid card, no site. The super doesn’t care that it wasn’t your idea.

You go back to class. Same hours, again, on your own time. Maybe your own dime too.

Your employer feels it. The contractor who put you on that job now has a problem. That doesn’t make you popular.

Look, nobody wants to do this training. We get it. That’s exactly why the shortcut is so tempting. “Two hours, card in my hand, we’ll handle it.” Sounds great on a Monday.

It sounds a lot less great when you’re standing at a gate with a dead card and a crew that’s already inside.

If a deal feels sus, walk away

Even when it’s tempting. Especially when it’s tempting.

Your gut is a pretty good inspector. Here’s what it’s picking up on:

• No real hours. The SST course takes time. If somebody says you can skip it, ask yourself why they’re offering.
• No ID check. A real school knows who’s in the room. If nobody checks who you are, nobody can prove it was you.
• “We’ll handle it.” Handle what, exactly? Ask. If the answer gets fuzzy, that’s your answer.
• A card way too fast, with no class. Cards take processing. A card with no class behind it is just plastic.
• Cash, no receipt. Paper trails are boring. They’re also your proof.

Any one of those? Stop. Walk. Nobody gets points for being polite to a bad deal.

The full checklist lives in How to Spot a Fake SST Card or an Unapproved SST School.

Check your card anyway

Not sure about a card you already have? Look up your record in Training Connect. NYC DOB’s SST worker information page and the SST FAQ explain what a valid card looks like and what to do if yours isn’t.

Starting over? See the Worker card page, the renewal guide, or How to Get Your SST Card.

Think you got sold something shady and want to report it? Use the NYC Department of Investigation online complaint form, or email NYC DOB’s Training Compliance Unit at tcintake@buildings.nyc.gov.

You got played? The shame is on whoever sold it, not on you.

Stick with Predictive Safety

We’re Predictive Safety, a registered school on the NYC DOB record. Look us up on the list. Then look us up in person, if you want.

We check your ID. You take the hours. Your record goes into Training Connect. Your card is processed immediately, typically in hand within 48 hours.

Our classes are so good you won’t need to cheat.

And if you still feel like cheating, you’ve got bigger problems.

Stay safe out there. – Predictive Safety

FAQ

If a school is on the NYC DOB list, am I automatically safe?

No. The list tells you a school is registered. It doesn’t guarantee how the school runs its classes. Valor was an approved provider, and it pleaded guilty. Use the list, then trust your gut.

What happens to my SST card if my school gets shut down?

NYC DOB can disable your card. In the Valor case it disabled more than 20,000 at once. Workers were turned away at the gate until they got a valid card from an approved provider.

What are the red flags that a deal is sus?

No real class hours, no ID check, “we’ll handle it,” a card that shows up way too fast with no class behind it, and cash with no receipt. One is enough to walk away.

How do I check that my school is legit?

Look it up on the NYC DOB Registered Course Provider List. Then check your card record in Training Connect.

Where do I report a school that sold me a card without the class?

Use the NYC Department of Investigation online complaint form, or email NYC DOB’s Training Compliance Unit at tcintake@buildings.nyc.gov.

Sources

1. NYC DOB, Registered Course Provider List: https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/safety/dob-approved-course-provider-list.page
2. NYC DOB, SST worker information (includes the Redcode Inc. certificate invalidation and the December 7, 2026 grace period): https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/safety/sst-worker-information.page
3. NYC DOB, About NYCDOB Training Connect: https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/safety/nycdob-training-connect.page
4. NYC DOB, SST FAQ: https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/safety/sst-frequently-asked-questions.page
5. NYC DOI, report corruption (online form): https://www.nyc.gov/site/doi/report/report-corruption.page
6. NYC DOB Training Compliance Unit: tcintake@buildings.nyc.gov
7. Manhattan DA, DOI and NYC DOB joint release on the indictment of Valor Security & Investigations, Feb. 28, 2024: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/press-releases/2024/February/DANYCSiteSafety02.28.2024.pdf
8. NYC DOB, notice of intent to revoke Valor’s course provider status and disabling of Valor SST cards, April 2, 2024: https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/dob/pr-notice-of-intent-to-revoke.page
9. Manhattan DA, guilty pleas of Valor Security & Investigations and Alexander Shaporov, June 6, 2025: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/press-releases/2025/June/DANYCSiteSafety06.06.2025.pdf
10. Brooklyn DA, “Two Individuals and Company Indicted for Making and Selling Fake OSHA and Buildings Department Site Safety Cards” (Redcode Inc.), Sept. 8, 2026: https://www.brooklynda.org/?p=23991
11. Brooklyn DA and DOI, April 17, 2023 release on charges against Odessa Safety, Inc. and National Site Safety LLC: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/press-releases/2023/April/KCDA.OSHA_ind_4_17_2023.pdf