NJ School Bus Company Owners Indicted, Face Multiple Charges

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The owners of a school bus company based in East Orange have been indicted on several charges after they allegedly used unqualified drivers and unsafe vehicles, state prosecutors announced Tuesday.

According to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, a state grand jury indicted Ahmed Mahgoub, 63, and his wife, Faiza Ibrahim, 48, both of East Hanover, as well as their company, F&A Transportation Inc. – also doing business as Smart Union, Inc. and Unity Transportation Inc. – on the following criminal charges:

• Conspiracy (2nd degree)
• False Representations for a Government Contract (2nd degree)
• Theft by Deception (2nd degree)
• Tampering with Public Records or Information (3rd degree)
• Falsifying or Tampering with Records (4th degree)

Prosecutors alleged that Mahgoub and Ibrahim provided false information to school districts to cover up the fact that the company hired unqualified drivers, failed to conduct mandatory drug testing and criminal background checks for drivers and aides, and operated “unsafe buses,” all in violation of contract terms and state requirements.

“Interviews with bus drivers employed by F&A revealed that the defendants allegedly employed drivers who had known substance abuse problems,” prosecutors said. “They also allegedly employed numerous drivers who either did not have valid commercial driver’s licenses, did not have required endorsements, or had suspended licenses.”

The company also allegedly hired drivers before completion of criminal background checks or, in some instances, without any criminal background check at all, prosecutors said.

Mahgoub and Ibrahim are also accused of falsely claiming that their buses consistently passed company inspections. According to prosecutors:

“In February and August of 2019, the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) inspected F&A’s buses and nearly all of the company’s buses failed inspection on both occasions. When the MVC audited F&A’s driver files, it found that of the 51 drivers listed on F&A’s roster, four driver files were missing, 23 had no driver’s abstracts, two had expired abstracts, 11 had no physical exams, 13 had expired physical exams, and four had expired copies of driver’s licenses. Only nine files were complete.”

According to prosecutors, Mahgoub and Ibrahim told drivers to evade state inspections at school sites. They then concealed the violations by covertly directing persons employed as aides to drive school buses.

The false representations helped the pair to obtain government contracts worth millions of dollars, prosecutors said.

Mahgoub and Ibrahim were initially charged by complaint-summons on Oct. 8, 2020.

According to prosecutors:

“The defendants were charged in an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) and the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau. The alleged criminal conduct relates to contracts that F&A secured from 2016 through 2020 with public school districts in Essex, Passaic, Morris and Union counties. The contracts had an aggregate total value of approximately $3.5 million.”

At least one recent collision has been attributed to an employee of F&A, prosecutors said. In February 2019, police used Narcan to revive a driver who crashed into the wall of a building while transporting 12 children with special needs to Newark.

Prosecutors said that New Jersey laws and regulations require all school bus drivers to possess a valid commercial driver’s license with two additional endorsements to carry students as passengers. School bus drivers and bus aides are also required to undergo drug testing and criminal background checks, and drivers or aides with a criminal history or with known substance abuse issues are prohibited from driving school buses.

“When a parent entrusts a bus driver to safely transport their child to school, there should never be a concern that the individual behind the wheel may have a criminal record, may have failed a drug test, or may be operating an unsafe vehicle,” said Colonel Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

“We will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who defy the rules and regulations that have been put in place for the safety of our children,” Callahan said.

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