For the second time this year, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is facing allegations of time theft among its employees. A new report from the MTA inspector general accuses three dozen workers of participating in an elaborate scheme that allowed them to get paid for hours they never worked — using fake ID swipe cards to clock in and out.
According to the report, 36 employees — including seven supervisors — were involved in what investigators described as a “culture of fraud and time abuse” at three LIRR facilities, including Ronkonkoma. The nearly three-year investigation began in October 2022 and uncovered widespread misuse of timekeeping systems.
Investigators say the workers used duplicate ID cards to punch in for one another. The cloned cards were allegedly created using machines purchased on Amazon, and then sold to colleagues for as much as $40 each.
In one particularly brazen example, a gang foreman was quoted in the report saying, “They can’t do nothing to us.” Another worker reportedly swiped in for an overtime shift while wearing a bathing suit and flip-flops, allegedly telling coworkers, “Don’t bother looking for me. I’ll be next to my pool with a margarita.”
This is not the first time LIRR employees have been accused of time theft this year. In June, a separate investigation found that four workers at the railroad’s Hillside facility had also been swiping each other in and out.
The revelations come just months before another scheduled fare increase — a fact that has left many riders frustrated.
“This is why passengers are just getting outraged with all of these things happening,” said Charlton D’Souza of Passengers United, a commuter advocacy group.
According to the inspector general’s report, nearly all of the employees involved received unpaid suspensions ranging from two to nine months. LIRR officials said 12 employees have since resigned or retired, and must forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The MTA says it has implemented new measures to prevent further fraud, including fingerprint punch clocks and additional surveillance cameras at facilities.
LIRR President Rob Free condemned the workers’ actions in a statement, writing, “What they did was nothing short of corrupt, which is why those active employees who were participants in this scheme — including supervisors responsible for making sure all employees play by the rules — faced severe punishment.”