10 MTA workers charged with inspection scam

Ten MTA workers have been charged with fudging subway inspections for nearly two years, officials said Monday.

Two supervisors and eight signal maintainers were charged in the scheme, accused of claiming to have inspected signals they never checked at least 33 times in 2009 and 2010, according to prosecutors.

The maintainers are supposed to scan bar codes attached to signals along the tracks as they inspect them to prove they have been checked and that the equipment is safe. Prosecutors have accused worker Anthony Pellegrino, 29, of getting his hands on some bar codes and keeping them in his locker. They also allege that Oscar Magalong, 52, a supervisor, told workers to say they had inspected more signals than they had.

The scam was busted after a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Transportation Agency's inspector general and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. "Failing to properly inspect the subway system can lead to delays in service and, potentially, endanger the safety of subway riders," Vance said in a statement. "No matter how lax an agency's internal controls might be, tampering with public records to cover up a failure to inspect signal equipment is never acceptable conduct."

The MTA workers were released Monday after pleading not guilty to the charges. Arthur Schwartz, the lawyer representing most of them, did not return a message for comment Monday.

The workers' union said they were being used as "scapegoats for the illegitimate actions" of upper management.

"Our members were under tremendous management pressure to maintain 100 percent performance of what management knew was an impossible performance goal," the Transport Workers Union said in a statement. "Our Signal Maintainers gained no financial benefit, or advantage of any kind by completing these unrealistic workloads, and submitting the reports demanded by management."

An MTA spokesman blasted the union's accusation as "utter nonsense," saying, "The actions taken by these 10 individuals occurred under their own volition."

New York City Transit president Tom Prendergast said the agency has added more workers to inspect signals and has cut down on the backlog that has plagued the department for years.