Overview
- The MTA Inspector General reported a entrenched scheme at Ronkonkoma, Richmond Hill and West Side facilities involving 36 employees, including seven gang foremen, and described a pervasive culture of time abuse.
- Cloned ID cards used for clocking in and out were made with machines bought online, stashed on railroad property and in some cases sold to colleagues.
- The report says 24 employees admitted possessing cloned cards and six participated in creating and distributing them.
- LIRR imposed discipline that included suspensions of up to nine months without pay and required hundreds of thousands of dollars in forfeited pay from a dozen workers who resigned or retired.
- The findings were referred to multiple district attorneys, but Suffolk County’s DA cited insufficient evidence due to lax controls, and the railroad has reinstated biometric finger scanning to tighten oversight.