Investigations

On October 9, 2018, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) debarred Richard Brega, owner of Brega Transport and Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp., for a period of 3 years. The basis for the debarment was Brega’s May 2, 2018, Federal conviction on multiple fraud, bribery, and theft charges. Prosecutors charged Brega with billing the Rockland County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for services that were never performed and bribing a BOCES official.

 

From 2012 through 2014, Brega directed his employees to prepare fraudulent invoices and supporting documentation that suggested his company performed regular preventive maintenance on certain buses. Brega also gave a BOCES official the equivalent of thousands of dollars in free services on his personal vehicles and vehicles belonging to his family and friends as compensation for participating in the scheme.

 

In 2013, Rockland County awarded Brega Transport a 5-year, $70 million, FTA-funded contract 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 FBI. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.