MTA bus boss covered license plate to avoid tolls, had $100k in outstanding fines: watchdog
A crooked NYC Transit superintendent used a plastic license plate cover to dodge tolls for years across New York, the MTA inspector general said Monday.
The superintendent — who was not named in the IG report but identified by sources as Aditya “Buddy” Samaroo — bragged to his colleagues that he avoided paying tolls on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bridges and tunnels by obscuring his license plate, according to the report.
The scam went even further, with Samaroo dodging more than $100,000 in outstanding tolls and late fees by regularly swapping out his car’s license plates, the report states.
When IG investigators caught wind, they found Samaroo’s Nissan Sentra was missing its front license plate and had a dirty plastic cover over its rear plate. Cars are required by state law to have front and rear plates.
Obscuring license plates, a common tactic among drivers who try to beat toll readers, is also illegal.
Samaroo oversaw maintenance on buses at Brooklyn’s East New York bus depot and drove to work daily, the report states.
Investigators found Samaroo’s car evaded bridge and tunnel license plate readers 11 times during the first seven months of 2020. The MTA relies on cameras to catch and charge car owners who do not have an E-ZPass.
The IG audit showed he owed $9,000 in tolls and $92,000 in late fees to the MTA, Port Authority and Thruway Authority that dated back to 2011.
Drivers who fail to pay MTA bridge and tunnel tolls are hit with late fees of up to $100 apiece. If the fees go unpaid, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles is supposed to revoke the registration of the scofflaw car.
But the bus boss allegedly took advantage of a flaw in DMV operations by trading in his license plates whenever his pile of outstanding fines triggered a suspension.
Samaroo told investigators he was unaware he owed so much money to the state and claimed his plastic license plate cover was used for weather protection.
As of March, Samaroo had $8,600 in tolls and $99,800 in fees owed to the three agencies, the report states. After the IG brought the case to MTA officials in May, he was suspended for 12 weeks, demoted to a lower management position and offered a settlement of just $10,373 to settle the debt with his own employer.
Samaroo remains on the job. He declined to comment when reached by phone.
Sources said the boss lives in Dutchess County and now works out of the MTA’s Eastchester Depot in the Bronx, which allows him to commute without paying tolls.
“MTA management is supposed to model ethical behavior, not violate it,” said MTA IG Carolyn Pokorny. “That a supervisor would unscrupulously steal toll dollars from New Yorkers – and have the nerve to brag about it on the job – is a slap in the face to the rest of the dedicated, hardworking MTA employees who keep New York moving.”
MTA spokesman Michael Cortez called the scam “reprehensible.”
“Our Bridge and Tunnel officers regularly stop vehicles with fake and obscured license plates, regardless of who is perpetrating the theft of public funds,” Cortez said.
