NBC: Nine Metro Employees Arrested for Fraudulent SmarTrip Scheme

[visionary]

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Metro-Employees-Arrested-Smartrip-Fraudulent--365184911.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DCBrand

Nine Metro Employees Arrested for Fraudulent SmarTrip Scheme

 

Nine Metro employees have been arrested for their part in an elaborate scheme to load SmarTrip cards with leftover passenger fares and resell the cards fraudulently, News4 has learned.

 

Seven Metro station managers and two custodians had been collecting paper fare cards from riders and allowing those riders to exit the system for free. After the employees collected a sizable stack of paper fare cards -- which still contained value -- the employees would transfer the balance of those fare cards to plastic SmarTrip cards and then sell the SmarTrip cards at a discounted price.

 

"It was happening because -- let's say late at night -- riders didn't have enough fare to exit the system on their fare card. The station manager would just tell them give me the card and go," a source with direct knowledge of the events tells News 4. "They were collecting all these paper fare cards."

 

If a Metro rider gets off a train and doesn't have enough fare loaded onto their fare card to pay the exit price, they are directed to an exit fare machine to load the correct fare and then they can exit. But the station managers and custodians were turning a blind eye to that process and were instead keeping the paper fare cards, which still contained value, for themselves.

 

"It's theft," Metro Chief Spokesperson Dan Stessel told News4 in an interview Wednesday. "It wasn't a coordinated effort. These appear to be employees who made a bad decision and engaged in a violation of public trust."

 

Not only did they steal money, but they stole from Metro, which finds itself clawing for every penny it can get as it embarks on a massive rebuilding effort.
In many cases, multiple SmarTrip cards loaded up with fraudulent money would be turned around and sold for less.

[TimmySmith]

These employees should be promoted for finding a way to generate revenue.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Always wondered what happens if you have no money on you and can't afford the exit fee. Sleep on the floor overnight? Get a "you should be ashamed of yourself" talk from the station manager

Apparently, for some, it was they'd take your fare card and let ya walk. Hmph.