BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
TRENTON — Two Amtrak supervisors, including an Edison Township man, were charged last week with overbilling their employer a combined total of more than 800 overtime hours and more than 60 regular hours they claimed to be working — losses amounting to $92,000, according to New Jersey United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Richard Vogel, 63, of Edison, and Donald Harper, Sr., 46, of Somerset, were arrested on July 19 by federal agents and charged in separate criminal complaints with defrauding Amtrak Corporation as a result of their alleged fraudulent overbilling of work hours.
Both defendants appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court the same date of their arrest.
Special Agents from Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted the investigation on Vogel and Harper.
For the Vogel investigation, it included video surveillance, analysis of telephone records, Amtrak billing and time-keeping records, as well as information provided by other law enforcement officers, according to the criminal complaint.
For the Harper investigation, it included video surveillance, analysis of cellular phone records and monitoring of a GPS tracking device installed on Harper’s Amtrak-issued vehicle, as well as information provided by other law enforcement officers, according to the criminal complaint.
Vogel, who has been employed by Amtrak since January 1977, currently supervises approximately 35 employees in work gangs on the Construction Signals side of the Communications and Signals Department headquartered in Linden and Princeton Junction of Amtrak’s New York Division.
Between November 2015 and June 2016, Vogel allegedly fraudulently billed Amtrak for 41 regular hours and 687.75 overtime hours when it was alleged he was not actually present at Amtrak work sites, resulting in losses to Amtrak of more than $71,000, according to the criminal complaint.
Harper, who has been employed by Amtrak since February 1990, currently supervises approximately 19 employees in a work gang on the Signals side of the Communications and Signals Department, which included the Northeast Corridor Railroad in Newark, the Edison Train Station, Elmora Headquarters in Elizabeth, Lincoln Tower in Metuchen, Union Tower in Rahway and New Jersey and Hunter Yard near Newark of Amtrak’s New York Division.
Harper, Sr. fraudulently billed Amtrak for 27.75 regular hours and 192.25 overtime hours when it was alleged he was not actually present at Amtrak work sites, between October 2014 and October 2015, resulting in losses to Amtrak of more than $20,000, according to the criminal complaint.
Both defendants are facing maximum potential penalties of 10 years in prison each on the fraud offense and theft of funds offense, in addition to fines up to the greater of $250,000 per charge count or twice the amount the defendant’s made from the scheme, or twice of what Amtrak lost, officials said.
State Attorney General Fishman credited special agents of Amtrak’s OIG, Office of Investigations, Philadelphia office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Koons, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mala Ahuja Harker of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division.