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What a cash-swipe!
A subway security guard hired to crack down on rampant fare evasion was caught on camera swiping in riders with a student OMNY card in exchange for cash.
A new report from MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort’s office showed the guard tapping straphangers through the gates of a Brooklyn station — using a stolen Department of Education OMNY card that was intended for student use.
The IG’s report released Thursday did not identify the security guard, who was removed from the subways after a rider at the Eighth Avenue station in Brooklyn alerted authorities to the scam last year.
“The gate guards are paid to deter farebeating and provide a sense of security to the riding public, not to improperly sell subway system entry and pocket the cash,” MTA IG Daniel Cort said in a statement.
“I am grateful to the rider who reported this misconduct and appreciate NYC Transit’s thorough response, which led to the guard’s removal from working in the subway system.”
The worker — a “gate security guard” — was employed by MTA contractor Allied Security Services whose employees are supported to help prevent, not encourage, fare evasion.
It’s just the latest example of Allied Security workers caught in the act of handing out free fares.
Last May, The Post observed Allied Universal Security Services guards inside the Herald Square station holding the emergency doors open on two different occasions to let a stream of fare jumpers through.
The guard caught in the cash-for-swipes scheme was hired on June 3, 2024 and assigned to the Eighth Avenue station, according to the report. She told investigators from the IG office that she received no training for the job and had no prior experience.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video after receiving a tip against her in July. Footage showed her on at least five occasions between July 14 and July 18 reaching through the security fence and accepting cash from riders before tapping them through the gates.
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During three interactions — two on July 17 and one on July 18 — she appeared to reach back into her pocket and return cash to the non-paying customers, the report said.
When confronted, the guard initially claimed she used her own personally-funded OMNY card but when she was informed that records showed it was a student card, she claimed she found it on the street.
“The Security Guard improperly accepted cash from customers for her personal gain, and by doing so, she stole money from NYC Transit,” the report said.
Her conduct violated Allied Security’s Code of Ethics “and would likely constitute the criminal offense of petit larceny,” IG investigation concluded. But the IG’s office suggested the theft was so small that it didn’t warrant a criminal referral.
“This guard will never work on MTA property again,” an MTA spokesperson said. “Taking cash to illegally swipe riders into the subway is the exact conduct this person was assigned to prevent.”
Allied Security declined to comment.
The MTA has not accepted cash to pay fares since April 2020 during the peak of the COVID-pandemic shutdown. Access is now only possible with an OMNY swipe card, bank card or other cashless options.
As a result, a rider couldn’t access the subway system without the OMNY card, the phased out MetroCard or bank card.
The MTA loses a staggering $900 million from evasion combined on its buses and trains.
Read the full article here
