(The following story by Michael Hinkelman appeared on the Philadelphia Daily News website on March 17, 2009.)
PHILADELPHIA — A federal grand jury yesterday charged a former computer consultant for Amtrak with stealing $72,487 from the national passenger rail agency.
The charging papers allege that George Susini, of Raleigh, N.C., who performed maintenance on Amtrak’s computer system in Philadelphia, schemed with a longtime Amtrak employee, Douglas Thompson, to manipulate Amtrak’s computer-based financial accounting system.
Thompson, who worked in Amtrak’s accounting department, pleaded guilty in federal district court in the District of Columbia in September 2008 to stealing more than $74,000 in federal funds from Amtrak.
The scheme, which took place between March 2003 and November 2004, permitted Susini and Thompson to add credits to their credit-card accounts which were posted as refunds from Amtrak, the indictment said.
The indictment alleges the defendants sent false electronic signals to an Internet company, Dollars On The Net, which provided computer services to Amtrak.
The signals prompted the company’s computer system to transfer funds, in the form of credits, from Amtrak’s account to the credit cards of Susini and Thompson, the indictment said.
The grand jury charged that Susini and Thompson caused the transfer of $72,487 to Susini’s credit-card account from Amtrak’s accounts through about 24 wire transactions between March 2003 and November 2004.
The feds also want Susini to forfeit the alleged $72,487 in illicit proceeds.
Authorities said Susini, who didn’t have a lawyer as of yesterday, is scheduled for an initial appearance in federal magistrate court in Raleigh next week. He’ll be arraigned here later.
As part of his plea deal, Thompson agreed to forfeit more than $74,000 in ill-gotten proceeds to the government and cooperate with the feds in any proceeding arising from his illegal conduct.