Academy Bus to pay $20.5M after being accused of defrauding NJ Transit for years
Academy Bus will pay $20.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by New Jersey accusing the private company of underreporting missed bus trips and by over-billing New Jersey Transit for hours and miles driven in what authorities described as an “extensive multi-year, multi-million-dollar fraud.”
The Hoboken-based company also agreed to be overseen by an independent monitor, implement new policies and add more training for employees to ensure Academy accurately log trips it fails to complete and how many miles its drivers travel, the state Office of the Attorney General said Friday.
The agreement announced Friday is the state’s largest-ever non-health care False Claims Act settlement.
“Academy is glad to have worked cooperatively with the state of New Jersey to resolve this litigation,” Academy Bus spokesman Ben Martin said Friday in an emailed statement. “Additional internal protocols, checks and balances eliminate the possibility for similar issues to arise in the future, and Academy looks forward to restoring service to pre-COVID levels and reliably transporting its loyal customers around New Jersey.”
Read more: https://www.nj.com/news/2022/02/academy-bus-to-pay-205m-after-being-accused-of-defrauding-nj-transit-for-years.html