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Investigations

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Owner of New York Bus and Maintenance Companies Convicted for Fraud, Bribery, and Theft

On May 2, after a 2-week jury trial, Richard Brega was found guilty in U.S. District Court, White Plains, New York, on multiple fraud, bribery, and theft charges. The owner of Brega Transport and Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp., Brega was convicted for his role in billing the Rockland County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for services that were never performed, as well as bribery of a BOCES official.
 
From 2012 through 2014, Brega directed his employees to prepare fraudulent invoices and supporting documentation that suggested that his company performed regular preventive maintenance on certain buses. The BOCES official received thousands of dollars in free services on his personal vehicles and vehicles belonging to his family and friends in exchange for participating in the scheme.
In 2013, Rockland County awarded Brega Transport a 5-year, $70 million contract, funded by the Federal Transit Administration, to operate the Transport of Rockland and Tappan Zee Express bus routes and perform maintenance on county-owned buses.
 
DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.