LIRR Conductor Charged In Ticket Fraud Scheme: DA

WEST ISLIP, NY — An LIRR conductor was arrested on Monday for his involvement in a ticket fraud scheme, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini.

Robert Anderson, 61, of West Islip, is charged with four counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, eight counts of petty larceny, and, eight counts of official misconduct, the DA said.

Between April 2019 and September 2020 Anderson, who worked at the LIRR since 2014, engaged in a scheme in which he would collect train tickets but not punch them like he was supposed to, according to the DA.

He would then provide the un-punched tickets to his acquaintances to either use or submit for refunds, the DA said. He would also submit collection revenue reports falsely claiming that he had remitted all the tickets he collected during his shift, the DA said.

All LIRR conductors are required to submit revenue reports for each shift, which include all tickets and revenue collected, according to the DA.

Further investigation by the MTA and the DA revealed evidence that Anderson failed to include train tickets submitted by investigators in his signed revenue reports on eight separate occasions in 2019 and 2020, according to Sini.

"As a LIRR conductor, one of your basic duties is to collect train tickets - not steal them," MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny said. "This defendant allegedly chose to violate the public’s trust by pocketing the tickets and treating this rider and taxpayer money like it was his own personal piggy bank."

Anderson was arraigned in Suffolk County District Court and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on June 21.

If convicted of the top count, he faces a maximum sentence of one to four years in prison.

According to SeeThroughNY, Anderson made a total of $150,371 last year.