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An MTA overtime cheater accused has collected a massive pension which the federal government says was boosted by a salary he didn’t actually earn – but that sauce train could soon be overthrown!
Thomas Caputo, 56, of Holbrook, LI, has raised $ 144,000 in retirement benefits over the past year, it was revealed in court after his arrest Thursday.
The MTA said on Friday that if convicted, officials would seek to recover the proceeds of his alleged scam and reduce his pension accordingly.
“We are researching all available options to recover the stolen overtime and resulting pension,” MTA spokeswoman Abbey Collins said.
“This is a blatant breach of public trust and we will take whatever steps are necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse wherever they occur.”
Caputo, a former LIRR runway inspector, took early retirement in March 2019 amid an investigation into the $ 461,646 he took home the year before.
The mind-boggling amount – which made him the agency’s highest paid employee – included a salary of $ 117,499 a year and $ 344,147 for an unlikely 3,864 overtime.
To earn that much, Caputo would have had to work more than 10 hours “every calendar day of 2018, including weekends and holidays (although he didn’t) … in addition to his regular work week 40 hours, ”according to court documents. .
Instead, prosecutors said Caputo “frequently” spends this time “at home or in other non-work places,” including a bowling alley in Patchogue, LI.
And as if that weren’t enough, on several occasions Caputo “has also falsely claimed to have worked regular hours that he is not working,” according to court documents.
Because transit workers’ pensions are based on the top three out of 10 years before they retire, the federal government has said Caputo’s alleged scam has increased his pension benefits.
The MTA did not say on Friday how much of Caputo’s pension was the result of his claimed overtime.
Last year, The Post visited his home and found renovations that included a brick and stone driveway – but no sign of the broken down Volkswagen Jetta that a Google Street View camera photographed in 2012.
Instead, there was a sleek black Audi Q5 in its place, along with a BMW and Honda Accord parked nearby.
No one answered the door to the house on Friday afternoon.
Caputo is one of five current and former MTA employees who have been charged with one count each of federal program fraud for allegedly defrauding MTA overtime payments.
The charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Another accused, Joseph Ruzzo, 56, of Levittown, is also retired, but details of his pension have not been released.
The other three, John Nugent, 50, of Rocky Point; Joseph Balestra, 51, of Blue Point; and Michael Gunderson, 42, of Manalapan, NJ, remained employed by the MTA.
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