The Government Accountability Office has revealed major fraud and abuse of transit subsidies for federal employees -- many of whom are selling their transit vouchers on eBay, pocketing the money, and then driving to work.
"It's a perk of federal employment: a free monthly subsidy that pays for commutes on public transportation. But scores of workers have been taking the government for a ride, selling their benefits on the Internet and pocketing millions in cash each year."
"The program, which covers 300,000 federal employees nationwide, has been abused by workers across a variety of agencies, the Government Accountability Office will report to Congress today. Workers in the Washington region alone have defrauded the government of at least $17 million a year, with the actual figure probably several million dollars higher, according to the GAO."
"Employees have taken the benefit vouchers, known locally as Metrocheks, and turned them into a kind of black-market currency, selling them -- often at a discount off the face value -- to buyers who can use them to ride Metro, regional buses or commuter railroads."
"Workers have been accepting the transit subsidies but driving to work, or claiming a subsidy far greater than their commuting costs and selling the excess, GAO investigators found."
FULL STORY: GAO Finds Fraud in Commuter Program
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