By Lookout Staff
April 16 – Three Big Blue Bus employees were arrested Wednesday for stealing from Santa Monica’s Rideshare program, which offers free passes to City workers who take public transportation to their jobs.
The arrests were made after a random internal audit of the Rideshare program by the City’s Finance Department found irregularities in Transit Club forms as well as a lack of effective internal controls, City officials said.
“As a result of the team’s findings, City Manager P. Lamont Ewell called for a full Police Department investigation that was initiated on March 2,” said Kate Vernez, assistant to the City Manager for community and government relations.
The investigation led to the arrest of the three employees Wednesday. Two were charged with grand theft and one with petty theft.
The internal review – which was initiated more than two years ago -- gauged the effectiveness of the Transportation Management Division’s efforts to administer the Rideshare program.
The ten-year-old program gives full-time municipal employees an incentive to use public transit, car pool or engage in other means of transportation to reduce carbon emissions.
Under the program, employees receive a free EZ transit pass that allows them unlimited rides on the Big Blue Bus and 13 other regional agencies. The passes, which normally cost $70, must be renewed every month.
The three employees are scheduled to be arraigned at the LAX Courthouse this week.
