NYS Comptroller to Investigate MTA for Potential Overtime Fraud

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has spent $600 million in overtime pay from January 2008 and December 2009, with 144 MTA employees doubling their annual income through overtime pay, according to an audit released Aug. 5 by the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

One Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) car repairman, for example, collected $142,857 in overtime pay, more than double his $64,865 annual salary, the report found.

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement that he will will conduct a forensic audit – an audit specifically used to identify fraud – with a focus on “suspicious” overtime transactions and practices found in the initial audit, adding that there was a “culture of acceptance” surrounding overtime abuse at the MTA.

According to the audit, the LIRR, Metro-North, Bridges and Tunnels and NYC Transit accounted for almost 90 percent ($540 million) of all MTA overtime. The auditors also found that the MTA central office accepted overtime budgets from its constituent agencies without question and had not made an effort to reduce overtime spending.

Olayinka Fadahunsi, a spokesman for DiNapoli, told Business Week that “there was reason to believe something potentially fraudulent is going on,” adding that the initial audit uncovered more than 75 percent of the 77 overtime transactions sampled lacked justification or documentation.

Without going into specific details regarding the forensic audit, Fadahunsi told Business Week that the probe may take weeks as auditors also will be inspecting work locations to ensure that MTA staff is working during assigned shifts and overtime scheduling had been properly reviewed and approved.

In May, the MTA said it would reduce overtime costs by $22 million this year and $60 million next year by cracking down on employee absenteeism, changing outdated work rules and closely monitoring shifts that exceed 16 hours to reduce double-time payments, Business Week reported.