Metuchen Gas Station Manager Stole From Amtrak, Feds Say

METUCHEN, NJ — A Metuchen gas station manager was charged Thursday with entering fraudulent charges on fuel credit cards assigned to at least four Amtrak vehicles, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.

Umer Hassan Mir, 39, of South Amboy, is charged with intentionally stealing and converting to his own use approximately $9,600 in money meant for Amtrak. He is also charged with making false statements to federal law enforcement. Mir was released on $20,000 bail.

Federal prosecutors say from July 29, 2019, through Aug. 3, 2021, while working as a manager and attendant at a Delta gas station in Metuchen, Mir caused numerous fraudulent fuel charges to be entered on fuel credit cards assigned to Amtrak vehicles.

Amtrak employees using company cars are instructed to purchase regular unleaded fuel and provide accurate odometer readings when they are fueling their assigned vehicles with their fuel credit cards.

The fraud was initially discovered when a government loss-prevention technician discovered dozens of fuel credit card charges that exceeded the associated Amtrak vehicle's fuel tank capacity, along with premium fuel transactions and non-sequential odometer entries, Honig said. Additional fuel credit cards assigned to Amtrak vehicles were discovered to have been compromised by fraudulent fuel charges at the Delta gas station, according to authorities.

Prosecutors say Mir entered the fraudulent charges at the Metuchen Delta gas station, where he would manually enter information regarding fuel credit cards collected during legitimate fuel transactions electronically into the point-of-sale terminal.

Immediately following certain false fuel transactions, Mir withdrew cash in the amount of the fraudulent transaction from the gas station's cash register. Mir made false statements to law enforcement when questioned about his presence at the gas station during one of the recent fraudulent transactions, said prosecutors.

He is facing up to 10 years in prison and fines.

(Reporting by Carly Baldwin, Patch Staff)

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