This Moment in Corruption: Public Sector Has Seat at Auto Repair's Trickery Table.

The Office of Acting Massachusetts United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell announced yesterday that Bahram Gharony of Boston has agreed to plead guilty in connection with "a scheme to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars" from the Boston Police Department.  

"Defendant allegedly embezzled more than $260,000 from BPD in automotive supplies," said the headline on a press release from Mendell's office.  

Gharony, who is 36 years old and was formerly employed as an automotive repair technician by the department, has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud.  

A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled in federal court, so a judge has not yet sentenced Gharony.  Here's other information on the case from the Mendell press release:

"According to the charging document, Gharony is alleged to have engaged in a scheme to defraud BPD's Fleet Management Division of over $260,000 in automotive parts, tools and supplies between June 2017 and September 2020.

"It is alleged that Gharony used his position to order parts and supplies that he purported were for BPD, but were actually converted and sold to others by Gharony.

"In an effort to conceal the scheme, Gharony allegedly submitted fraudulent and altered invoices to BPD for the parts, tools and supplies he falsely claimed were ordered for the fleet.  Additionally, Gharony purported that he had lawfully purchased the items through a discount available to BPD when selling the items to others."

Each of the charges of wire fraud here carry a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross value of the gain or loss involved -- whichever is greater.

The Mendell press release emphasizes that "the details in the charging document are allegations," and that "the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."

That is a necessary bit of caution on Mendell's part.  New information can emerge.  Defendants can decide to change pleas.  Judges can reduce charges against a defendant or even throw cases out altogether.

UPDATE:  On Dec. 14, 2021, Mr. Gharony was sentenced to two months in prison and three years of supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $256,432.

 

 

COVID Stifles MBTA. Skeptics Doubt Its Future. Time to Invest Big in T Is Now.

As anyone who's travelled recently into or out of Boston during rush hour can attest, traffic has made a major comeback.

MassDOT numbers confirm the view from the driver's seat of a typical commuter.

In a presentation this past Monday to MassDOT's board of directors, Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver noted that traffic is "back to about 2019 levels."  (For a man whose expertise is travel, could the Administrator's name be more perfect?)

The situation on the T, while improving, is not nearly as robust.

For the period July 12-16, average daily ticket validation in subways was 183,000, while daily bus ridership averaged 215,000.  

Those figures represent 38% and 55%, respectively, of the number of subway and bus riders during the same period in 2019, eight months before the state went into COVID lockdown.

"We continue to see ridership come back," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak told the MassDOT board on Monday.  [Source: State House News Service]  

"Last week," Poftak said, "was the highest ridership week since March of 2020, so we will continue to closely monitor that.  If you've seen our campaign, we're ready for people who come back, but also mindful we have been serving hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis throughout this pandemic."

The State House News Service pointed out that, before COVID struck, the legislature "appeared poised for action to address the state's overcrowded roadways, aging infrastructure, and often unreliable transit systems," but, since then, improving mass transit "has taken a backseat " to pandemic-related issues and, lately, to many other matters.

The News Service's Chris Lisinski writes that legislative leaders "have not demonstrated the same interest they once had in passing a bill to raise new revenue for transportation needs..."

As a decades-long (i.e., scarred) T rider, my hope is that we will soon see a rekindling of such interest on Beacon Hill.

I understand the concern that subway and bus ridership may never return to pre-pandemic volumes. But that fear is overblown and misconceived.  

Pre-pandemic ridership should not be regarded as an ideal to be replicated in the post-COVID era, but rather as a reflection of a transit system severely out of date and ill-suited to meet the needs and the expectations of Greater Bostonians, now, and even more so in the future.  

Instead of wringing our hands about obstacles that could prevent ridership from returning to former peaks, we should be thinking of how much higher future ridership could be if we significantly upgraded T facilities, equipment and amenities; improved reliability and the overall customer experience; and expanded services.

Because of all it has going for it, Boston is only going to become more vibrant, desirable and wealthy.  

Even if pandemic remote work patterns become permanent and lots of office towers have to be reconfigured at exorbitant cost for other uses, the capital of New England will make a comeback for the ages when the pandemic is behind us for good.

Any politician who takes a strong stand now in favor of big, bold investments in mass transit will be seen one day as a prophet.  (And as a hell of a public servant, to boot.)