A former BART employee is facing criminal fraud charges.
The agency's inspector general claims the former employee would clock in for 10-hour shifts and then walk away until it was time to clock out, collecting a check without doing the work.
According to the inspector general, the agency was tipped off about three potentially problematic employees by other BART staff.
"When you see people maybe leaving a little bit early, sometimes you might just go straight to management with the concern, but in these cases, they were for extended periods of time, and we observed that to be true," BART Inspector General Claudette Biemeret said.
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Using security cameras within the BART system, investigators were able to see exactly when the three employees would show up and leave.
In one case in particular, BART police got involved and filed a criminal complaint, which has now been taken up by the San Mateo County District Attorney.
"He checked in and received money when he was not at work," District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said about the employee. "The total amount that we're talking about here by our analysis is just over $9,000. When somebody does that, that's theft. That's a crime, and we in San Mateo County, we prosecute those."
According to the district attorney, the former BART employee, Alan R. Boie, was responsible for repairing the fare gates at the BART stations between Glen Park in San Francisco and Millbrae.
Boie resigned when he was confronted about the investigators' findings, and he currently has a warrant out for his arrest on the related charges, according to the district attorney's office.
In the other two cases, the inspector general said the employees were regretful about their actions, so the inspector general's office referred them to BART executive management.
When asked about consequences for those two employees, a BART spokesperson replied with a statement that reads, in part, "We cannot comment on personnel matters, but we are grateful for the office of the inspector general for bringing these investigations to our attention."
Biemeret said she hopes the investigations help preserve the public's trust in BART.
"The public knowing that we're out here doing this, I hope, is giving them some assurances that while this behavior occurred, that we're doing something to stop it," she said.
According to Biemeret, one of the workers involved has since retired, and she has recommended BART work with the state pension fund to recover any allegedly ill gotten wages.
