Settlement resolves longstanding lawsuit and investigation that uncovered a complicated scheme to escape regulatory oversight and defraud the City
SAN FRANCISCO (July 24, 2025) — City Attorney David Chiu announced today that he secured a $1.425 million settlement agreement with Rodrigo Santos, Albert Urrutia, and their construction engineering firm, Santos & Urrutia Inc. Rodrigo Santos is also barred from holding an engineering license for five years.
The settlement stems from a 2018 lawsuit filed by the City Attorney’s Office against Santos, Urrutia, their business, contractors and clients for defrauding the City, submitting false plans, and endangering the public by excavating under San Francisco homes without permits. The elaborate scheme was devised to circumvent oversight and speed up the building process, illegally giving Santos and his associates a competitive edge over other law-abiding businesses. Through significant investigation, the City Attorney’s Office uncovered unpermitted excavations, forged documents and reports, use of an unlicensed contractor, outright lies to City agencies, and check fraud. This investigation led to criminal charges for Santos and another Defendant.
“Rodrigo Santos defrauded his clients and the City,” said City Attorney Chiu. “Santos aided and abetted unauthorized excavations, creating safety hazards and putting his clients and their neighbors at risk. And, Santos profited significantly off of all of this illegal conduct. This settlement brings accountability to the matter and would not be possible without the hard work of attorneys and investigators in our City Attorney’s Office, who spent years uncovering Santos’ misdeeds.”
Background
Santos, Urrutia, and their associates engaged in extensive fraud to circumvent state and local laws, mislead City departments, and avoid regulation and oversight by City departments. After significant investigation, the City Attorney’s Office filed a civil lawsuit in 2018 against Santos, Urrutia, Santos & Urrutia Inc, and clients and contractors who conspired with them in the illegal scheme, alleging that they violated multiple state and local laws and created a public nuisance by endangering the public with extensive unpermitted construction work.
Santos stole over $420,000 from his own clients by instructing clients to sign blank checks intended for City Departments, such as the Department of Building Inspection (DBI), to pay for permits or other fees. Santos later filled in the dollar amount, altered the payee information, and deposited the check in his personal checking account. Occasionally, Santos changed the payee from “DBI” to “RODBIGO SANTOS.” This theft involved more than 200 checks over a three-year period. City Attorney’s Office Investigator Carol Stuart first discovered the check forgery, which kicked off criminal investigations into Santos’ web of illegal activity.
To evade regulatory oversight and give his business a competitive advantage, Santos would obtain simple, “over the counter” building permits that did not require extensive City review, and then Santos’ clients would use that cover to conduct major construction and excavations well beyond the scope of the permits. At a few properties, the unpermitted excavation work undermined the foundations of neighboring properties.
Defendants submitted forged and fraudulent special inspection reports, falsely verifying the quality and safety of construction materials and work completed at the properties to avoid the time, expense, and oversight involved with hiring actual special inspectors. Former Defendant Peter Schurman, an engineering technician, was criminally charged for this conduct.
One Defendant, a contractor with a revoked license, collaborated with Santos and others on multiple projects, which posed significant safety risks for the construction workers on these projects. Defendants even fraudulently used the identities of licensed contractors and misappropriated these contractors’ California Occupational Safety and Health Administration Trench/Excavation permits in order to pretend qualified contractors were working on the projects when they were not.
The fraudulent activity at issue in the lawsuit involved nine properties located at 147 Marietta Drive, 107 Marietta Drive, 457 Roosevelt Way, 601A Fell Street, 1945 Green Street, 2030 Vallejo Street, 1740 Jones Street, 1672-1674 Great Highway, and 2050 Jefferson Street.
The City’s lawsuit alleged Defendants’ actions violated San Francisco’s Building and Planning codes, California’s Unfair Competition Law, and State Housing Law. The City also alleged that the Defendants created a public nuisance with unsafe buildings, endangering workers and the public.
On June 3, 2025, the City secured a $1.425 million settlement with Rodrigo Santos, Albert Urrutia, and their construction engineering firm, Santos & Urrutia Inc. Over the years, the City had reached other settlements with all but one of the original Defendants. The civil trial against Kevin O’Connor, a client of Santos and the last remaining Defendant in the lawsuit, concluded on June 17, 2025, and the parties are awaiting the Court’s decision.
As a result of the City Attorney’s investigation and lawsuit, the FBI criminally charged Rodrigo Santos, he pled guilty to bribery and fraud, and was sentenced to 30 months of incarceration in August 2023.
Over the years, City Attorney’s Office employees Frances Arnold, Jennifer Choi, Wade Chow, Elizabeth Coolbrith, Peter Keith, Yvonne Meré, Renée Rosenblit, Hunter Sims, Keslie Stewart, Carol Stuart, and Chris Whitman, along with other former employees, worked on this matter to hold Santos and his associates accountable for breaking the law.
The case is City and County of San Francisco, et al. v. Santos & Urrutia Associates, Inc., et al., San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. CGC-18-569923.
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