Naples designer to pay $50K to settle permit fraud cases

A longtime Naples home designer with a decades-long history of unlicensed activity has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle permit-fraud cases involving 63 homes in Collier County. 

David Wainscott, of David Wainscott Design, accepted a stipulated settlement with the state Board of Architecture and Interior Design resolving the 63 counts, unless additional cases are found in which victims were harmed. His attorney, James Kurnik II, represented him before the board Jan. 23, when the settlement was unanimously approved during a hearing in Gainesville. Wainscott also must pay $5,385 in costs within 30 days. 

Prosecutor David Minacci said Wainscott did not attend the hearing. David Wainscott Design has been dissolved, DWD Design Inc. — which he had been operating under — was transferred to his vice president’s control, and Wainscott now operates as Naples Building Group LLC. 

The settlement is a reduction from the $189,000 fine recommended last July by a five-member state probable-cause panel. It marks Wainscott’s second similar offense — using the architectural seal of retired architect Gene Cravillion, now 92, who has lived in a North Naples memory care facility since August 2022 and has suffered from dementia since 2012. State records show Wainscott’s history of unlicensed activity before the Department of Business & Professional Regulation spans more than three decades. 

In November 2023, Wainscott was fined $24,000 for using the seal of deceased architect Leonard LaForest 50 times on Marco Island and elsewhere more than a year after his death — and more than three years after LaForest’s license was suspended. It was the largest fine in the board’s history. Records show Wainscott’s mother-in-law, Christine Ritter, notarized documents stating LaForest signed plans in her presence, although he had been dead for 86 days. She was never disciplined and has since died. 

Minacci said the board also approved a stipulated settlement for Carlos Barbato, of Thinline Group LLC, a drafting and design firm. Barbato will pay a $3,000 fine, plus $1,170 in costs, for 18 residential projects and one commercial project, a Haitian church, that used Cravillion’s seal. The fine is half of what the probable-cause panel initially recommended. He also must pay within 30 days. 

The board’s investigation has involved 25 Naples designers, contractors and businesses. All were issued cease-and-desist letters by the DBPR last January after investigators determined many hired Octavio Sarmiento, of ASSA (Agencias Sarmiento S.A.), a Naples permit and plan firm that used Cravillion’s seal and signature to obtain building permits. Some were unaware of the fraud, but the state panel said they should have exercised greater due diligence. 

The case, also under FBI investigation, has affected more than 400 homes and commercial buildings across Collier County, including 76 on Marco Island and five in Naples. The exact number has not been disclosed. 

Wainscott has sued Sarmiento, alleging he is responsible and caused significant damage to his business and reputation. Sarmiento denies Cravillion was unable to review or sign plans at the time, contending Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease and had not advanced that far. The lawsuit remains pending. 

At least one home’s certificate of occupancy was revoked due to six serious structural defects in plans linked to Wainscott. The homeowner, Monika Gatto, who reported the fraud to the state, said she has been unable to find a contractor willing to correct the defects. 

“The state gets the money, and the victims are left with big problems,” Gatto said this week, referring to fines that are used for investigations, administrative, legal and other costs. 

Minacci said Sarmiento’s case will be heard in Jacksonville in April. He faces 107 counts: 53 counts of practicing as an architect, 53 counts of presenting an architect’s license and one count of using the title of architect on his website. The panel recommended a $425,000 fine, the largest in its history. At a July hearing, Minacci said Sarmiento could face up to two years in federal prison. 

Three others settled in November: James D. Allen, of J.D. Allen & Associates; Nestor Garcia, of Nestor Garcia Design; and Luis Adrian Sanchez, who operates A1 Services Construction & Renovation. Cases against Alba Perez Toscano, of The Toscano Group LLC, and Gregory Ulrich, who operates KGT Builders Inc., were closed without findings of probable cause in July. A case against Drafting Design of Naples was closed June 27 and marked “legally insufficient.” 

Pending hearings or settlements involve Linda Levin, of Argon Development Co. LLC, who faces an $18,000 fine; Isaiah Trujillo, of Tru Drafting & Design Inc., $3,000; and Santiago Pinilla, of SP Drafting LLC, $3,000.