DC Metro Workers Fired, Arrested for Theft of Metro Cards: Reports

PHOTO: SmarTrip card image courtesy of Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority

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WASHINGTON, DC -- Seven DC metro station managers and two metro custodians have been fired and arrested after they were caught stealing metro fare cards, according to several media reports.

Here’s how it worked: Metro tells WJLA-TV that the DC metro employees targeted riders who did not have enough money left on their paper fare cards to exit. Metro says the station manager would keep the card, then let the rider exit through the emergency exit gate.

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The workers would then collect the fare cards and load the leftover money onto a SmarTrip Card, using it for person use, or selling it at a discounted price. Some of the SmarTrip cards turned up on Craigslist or eBay, NBC-4 reported.

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Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told The Washington Post that a months-long investigation found that fraud took place at four DC metro stations: Union Station, Federal Triangle, Wheaton and West Falls Church.

The total amount of money involved was less than $10,000, Stessel told The Post.