Gas Station Managers Arrested and Charged on Amtrak Vehicle Fuel Billing | USAO-NJ
NEWARK, NJ – A New Jersey gas station manager was charged today in connection with fraudulent charges placed on fuel credit cards assigned to at least four Amtrak vehicles, U.S. Attorney General Rachael A. Honig said.
Umer Hassan Mir, 39, of South Amboy, is charged by a complaint with knowingly and deliberately stealing approximately $ 9,600 in money from a United States department or agency for his own use. He is also accused of having given false information to the federal law enforcement authorities. I appeared before US Judge Cathy L. Waldor via videoconference this afternoon and was released for $ 20,000.
According to the complaint:
From July 29, 2019 to August 3, 2021, while serving as a manager and gas station attendant at a Delta gas station in Metuchen, New Jersey, Mir caused numerous fraudulent fuel bills on General Services-leased Fuel Credit Card Administration (GSA) and Amtrak vehicles assigned . Amtrak employees using GSA vehicles are instructed to purchase regular unleaded fuel and provide accurate mileage when refueling their assigned vehicles with their fuel credit cards. The fraud was originally uncovered when a GSA loss prevention technician discovered dozen of credit card charges that exceeded the fueling capacity of the associated Amtrak vehicle, along with premium fuel transactions and inconsistent odometer entries. Additional fuel credit cards assigned to Amtrak vehicles were found to have been compromised due to fraudulent fuel charges at the Delta gas station.
The fraudulent charges were entered at the Delta gas station by Mir, who manually entered information about fuel credit cards collected electronically from legitimate fuel transactions into the point of sale terminal. Immediately after certain false fuel transactions, Mir withdraws cash equal to the amount of the fraudulent transaction from the petrol station’s cash register.
I misrepresented law enforcement officers when questioned about his presence at the gas station during one of the most recent fraudulent transactions.
The theft charge has a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison, while the misrepresentation charge has a maximum potential sentence of five years. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $ 250,000.
Acting US Attorney Honey designated Amtrak Special Agents, Office of Inspector General, Eastern Region, under the direction of Special Agent Michael J. Waters; the General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Investigations Division, under the direction of Special Agent Joseph Dattoria; and inspectors at the US Postal Inspection Service, Newark Division, led by Acting Inspector Rodney M. Hopkins, which investigations led to the charges. She also thanked the Metuchen Police, led by Police Chief David Irizarry, for their assistance.
The government is represented by Leslie Faye Schwartz, Senior Trial Counsel of the US Attorneys’ Special Prosecutions Division, and Cari Fais, Assistant Attorney General, Head of Opioid Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Unit.
The allegations and allegations contained in the complaint are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
