Long Island Rail Road foreman John Cerulli arrived at work for a weekend overtime shift wearing a swim shirt, bathing suit and flip-flops, a co-worker told investigators. He swiped his employee ID card at a time clock at the Ronkonkoma facility and allegedly announced: "Don’t bother looking for me. I'll be next to my pool with a margarita."

Using cloned identification badges hidden in refrigerators and lockers, and coordinating with co-workers through group chats, some LIRR workers left work early nearly every day for weeks at a time, according to a three-year investigation by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's inspector general. Others hit the gym, ate meals at home and worked second jobs while on the clock.

The 65-page report, released last month, lays out the brazenness of the LIRR’s latest employee time-fraud scandal, investigators and MTA officials said. The probe implicated three dozen LIRR workers — seven of them supervisors — in a scheme to create and distribute counterfeit employee badges sold for $5-$40 and used to cover up absences, like Cerulli’s alleged on-the-clock pool day.

"It was the ‘culture,’ " at the LIRR's Maintenance of Equipment department to have a cloned card, one employee told investigators. Workers would announce, "I’m leaving early, and my card is in the locker," another worker recalled.

Although the report does not identify the implicated workers by name, Newsday obtained their identities through an open records request. Most have been disciplined by the LIRR, but have not faced any criminal charges.

The workers, taking advantage of COVID-era health precautions banning the use of biometric time clocks, hatched a plan to clone employee cards, and then stash the fakes throughout facilities so co-workers could swipe each other in and out, according the report from MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort.

Use of biometric time clocks, instituted after the last LIRR time card scandal, was suspended in 2020 over COVID-era health precautions.

In addition to reviewing records and conducting surveillance, investigators interviewed several LIRR workers allegedly involved in the coordinated plot. Some admitted their involvement and implicated others. Some denied any involvement. Some refused to answer investigators' questions.

"I think, at some point, you realize, ‘Oh , my gosh. There is a culture of fraud at these facilities,’ " Cort said in a recent interview at his Manhattan office. "More than surprised, I was appalled. I was outraged."

The LIRR and investigators have said they cannot determine the full amount accused employees were paid for wages they didn't earn, in part because the time clocks were not monitored by security cameras, and could not distinguish a real card from a fake one. Cerulli was forced to pay back $3,196 to the LIRR after he was caught on surveillance skipping out of work on 14 days over three months.

The accused workers made, on average, 1.3 to 2.7 times more in overtime last year than their fellow LIRR workers, according to a Newsday analysis of LIRR pay records. They include the LIRR’s top overtime earner in 2024, gang foreman Craig Murray, who made $220,073 in overtime, on top of his $124,361 base salary. The $345,779 he made in total was more than the salary of the LIRR's president. Murray denied to investigators ever having a cloned card or having co-workers swipe him in or out at time clocks.

Although most of the implicated employees are facing what the MTA calls "severe" consequences — including lengthy unpaid suspensions and, potentially, termination — others avoided punishment by retiring before the investigators' findings were released. None have faced criminal charges. Several, including those who were consistently among the railroad's highest overtime earners in recent years, remain on the LIRR’s payroll.

One employee, car inspector Richard Bovell, was fired after being found guilty in an internal disciplinary trial. In an interview, Bovell said he regretted his involvement, but noted the practice of co-workers covering for each other's absences "has been going on for God knows how long," dating back to when the railroad used old-fashioned time card punch clocks.

Bovell said the railroad’s overly restrictive time-off policies lead to employees having to violate rules in order to tend to responsibilities outside of work, like tending to sick family members.

"I've got other stuff going on outside the railroad that I still have to take care of," said Bovell, who criticized the LIRR for spending money on outside consultants while giving workers "a hassle" when they seek raises. "In my opinion, I don’t see it as stealing from the riders. To me, the railroad is the biggest crook."

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Newsday attempted to reach out to each employee named in this story, but most workers either did not respond to requests for comment, declined to comment or could not be reached.

Cerulli, in a text message, denied the account of arriving in flip-flops and said he doesn't drink alcohol. He wrote that he put "this behind me a year ago" and was "targeted by management," which he called "the real problem" at the LIRR. His attorney, Steven Politi, of Central Islip, in an email called the poolside margarita story "a complete and utter fabrication." He said investigators "have only targeted a few individuals," even though the use of the cloned cards was widespread at the LIRR.

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Cort said it's possible his investigation didn't catch all the employees involved in the alleged fraud, since the railroad's work structure provides ample opportunities for employees to engage in "time abuse and mischief."

LIRR labor leader Anthony Simon, who represents several of the implicated workers, said they will "pay the price," and that it’s time to "move on."

"To everybody who’s paying attention to these articles that are coming [out] about 36 people: We’ve got thousands of employees that are doing a great job. People make mistakes. They deserve their fair shot, and then they will get their discipline accordingly. But, nobody condones bad behavior," said Simon, general chairman of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

Officials from the Independent Railway Supervisors Association, the union that represents some of the accused foremen, did not respond to requests for comment.

Amazon purchases at the start

Although accounts of how the tactics began vary, investigators have records of employees using multiple identification cards to swipe in and out of work dating back to 2021. At the time, the MTA had suspended a 2020 requirement that all workers scan their fingers at time clocks to record the beginning and end of their shifts, citing employee sanitary concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. In lieu of the finger scans, workers were directed to swipe employee cards issued to them.

The MTA only reinstated the finger-scanning requirement in September 2024, weeks after the inspector general's office revealed early findings of its probe.

In November 2021, road car inspector Michael Watson, working out of the LIRR's Richmond Hill facility in Queens, bought a "USB Magstripe Credit Card Reader Writer" from his Amazon account, investigators found.

"There is a culture of fraud at these facilities," said Daniel Cort, the MTA's inspector general.

A few days later, fellow road car inspector Michael Nino said Watson asked him to order blank swipe cards to clone LIRR employee badges. According to Nino, if he didn't comply, Watson and a few other LIRR employees threatened to work together to prevent him from receiving overtime shifts. The same day, Nino's Amazon account placed an order for a 100-count "pack of magnetic stripe premium white PVC Cards."

Nino and Watson later met at an LIRR parking lot, where Watson provided Nino with a card-making machine and 30 blank swipe cards, according to the report.

"Given his experience in computer programming and IT, [Nino] was able to figure out how to create the cloned cards within a day and a half," investigators wrote.

Watson denied to investigators that he bought the equipment to clone employee cards, saying instead it was needed for a music shop he recently opened. But investigators noted that story "aligns with what [Watson] told other Richmond Hill employees he would say if he was ever questioned" by the inspector general's office.

Nino and Watson could not be reached for comment.

Watson went to the home of gang foreman William Gagliardi and walked him through how to run off copies of employee cards for fellow gang foremen in the Richmond Hill facility. Nino later demonstrated the card-copying machine in an LIRR employee locker room, making cloned badges for Watson and another car inspector.

Under the urging of Watson, over the following week, Nino cloned cards for 14 more employees, working out of his car with the card reader and a laptop computer. Nino duplicated his own ID card as well, investigators said. The blank white, credit-card size badges were typically marked with the owner’s initials and employee number, and kept in an unmarked locker in the Richmond Hill facility.

The cloned cards were well used, investigators found. "For instance, [Nino] said that from December 2021 through February 2022, some employees left work early nearly every day."

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Watson was among the most frequent users of a cloned card, according to Nino, at times working only four hours during a shift, and having his co-workers "swipe for him as many as 30 times."

Relying on the duplicate cards, gang foreman Shamal Hinds, on some weeks, went to the gym "every day during his shift," according to the report. Car repairman Husson Williams’ misconduct was also "particularly egregious," wrote investigators, who said "there came a time when [Williams] would not even show up for work," counting on his colleagues to swipe him in and out to record his attendance.

Hinds and Williams could not be reached for comment. In interviews with investigators, both admitted owning cloned cards.

Soon, word of the availability of cloned cards began to spread in other employee facilities, with interested employees being directed to go see a "friend on the Hill" — Richmond Hill foreman Gagliardi, according to investigators.

Gagliardi could not be reached for comment. He denied to investigators ever possessing or using a cloned card, or talking to Nino about creating the cards.

At the LIRR’s West Side facility in Manhattan, road car inspector Johansel Mendez sold the cloned cards to coworkers for $5, one coworker told investigators.

"The West Side employees kept their cloned cards in the refrigerator in the break room," according to the report. Mendez did not speak to investigators, and could not be reached for comment.

'Rip and slip' in Ronkonkoma

Investigators first became aware of the scheme once it reached the LIRR’s Ronkonkoma facility in October 2022. The inspector general’s office received an anonymous tip about Cerulli possessing a cloned card and having another foreman, Chris Mungal, use it to swipe him in at the scheduled start of his shift before he arrived to work.

On 14 occasions over three months, surveillance video showed Cerulli "arrived late to work, left early before his shift ended, or left for several hours during his shift while still on duty." On nine of those dates, investigators "found fraudulent swipes" of Cerulli's card.

Cerulli admitted misconduct to investigators, and implicated Mungal and two other Ronkonkoma foremen, according to investigators. Politi said his client "did not name anyone, ever."

Mungal, who denied to investigators ever having a cloned card or being swiped in by a co-worker, could not be reached for comment.

The report noted, "These supervisors, who were supposed to be monitoring their employees, were themselves participants in and complicit in the fraudulent scheme." It found 13 other LIRR employees "were engaged in the time abuse and fraudulent timekeeping records scheme" at the Ronkonkoma facility, known as "K.O.," where cloned cards were stored in a locker.

Brian Kearns, a road car inspector with 24 years at the LIRR, "was specifically implicated in the creation and distribution of cloned LIRR cards by multiple other Ronkonkoma employees," some of whom reported paying Kearns $20-$40 per card.

The Ronkonkoma LIRR train station.

Kearns was also accused by other employees of leaving work early "almost every day" in what was known as "rip and slip" — rushing to complete a day’s work quickly, then heading out, with the expectation that a co-worker would use a duplicate card to swipe him out at the end of his scheduled shift.

Kearns could not be reached for comment. He admitted to investigators he owned a cloned card, which he said he got from a since-deceased co-worker, but "denied having any knowledge about how cloned cards were created."

Second jobs, home for meals

Using the cloned cards, some employees worked second jobs while on the clock for the LIRR, investigators said. Others routinely disappeared for hours at a time, sometimes going home for meals several days a week.

The Ronkonkoma employees used a group text chat "to advise one another if they were running late and request one of the group chat members to swipe them in with their cloned card," investigators wrote, citing information provided by a road car inspector. "One of the members would then respond, confirming that the swipe occurred."

As word got out about Cort’s probe, some employees tried to cover their tracks, investigators said in their report. Cerulli and Mungal called a meeting of Ronkonkoma employees and directed them not to talk to investigators.

"Stop talking about the cards. ... What happens at K.O. stays at K.O.," one worker recalled being told. Mungal assured his co-workers, "They can't do nothing to us," the employee said. Kearns told investigators, "We don't rat on each other."

In July 2024, Cort’s office issued the findings of its investigation into Cerulli, and revealed it had launched a separate, "ongoing inquiry" into the production, distribution and use of duplicate LIRR employee cards. Soon after that, use of cloned cards stopped, investigators said. In September of that year, the MTA reinstated the requirement that employees scan their fingers at biometric time clocks.

Cort’s office referred the case to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney in May 2023. Tierney’s office said it conducted a 16-month investigation, but ultimately decided not to bring criminal charges, citing a lack of adequate record keeping or security cameras by the LIRR, and saying the case was "tainted with inadmissible evidence" compiled by MTA inspector general investigators.

"I stand by our work, and I'm proud of it," said Cort, who would not disclose whether he made similar referrals to law enforcement authorities in Queens and Manhattan, where the alleged fraud was also carried out.

LIRR President Rob Free said the railroad has installed security cameras near time clocks and conducts regular audits of employees' whereabouts.

LIRR president Rob Free has said, in addition to disciplining the workers involved, the railroad has taken several steps to prevent further time abuse, including by installing security cameras near time clocks and conducting regular management audits of employees’ whereabouts.

"We reflected upon this incident and really took swift action," Free said, adding that railroad managers conducted "roundtables" with union officials "to try and understand why things like this take place."

But it’s not the first time MTA leaders have enacted reforms aimed at curbing fraud in its workforce. The $37 million biometric employee timekeeping system itself was installed in response to concerns over bogus overtime claims by some LIRR workers, including four later convicted of fraud.

Cort said in the latest probe, he believes LIRR management "took to heart our findings and made real, significant and meaningful changes." But, Cort added, "no time keeping system is going to prevent all of this kind of fraud." And while he believes the vast majority of MTA workers are "honest and hardworking," he also believes some "may revert to their old ways."

"Humans are ingenious, and they’re going to find ways to get around the system," said Cort, who hopes his office’s investigation is a "turning point" for the railroad.

"It puts a real fear in those bad actors, knowing that there’s someone out there," he said. "I don’t know how long that fear will last."

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