LIRR workers accused in fake ID ring made nearly 2 times more in OT, analysis finds

Long Island Rail Road workers implicated in a three-year counterfeit employee ID card ring 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.

Among the 36 accused is the LIRR’s top overtime earner in 2024, gang foreman Craig Murray, one of seven implicated railroad supervisors. Records show Murray made $220,073 in overtime last year, on top of his $124,361 base salary. His total earnings were $345,779 — more than the president of the railroad made.

Murray’s overtime earnings were about 3.5 times higher than the $63,319 average for all LIRR gang foremen last year.

He also was among the railroad’s 10 highest overtime earners in 2023 and again in 2022, when his earnings jumped 16% from the previous year.

Evidence gathered by investigators with the office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Inspector General points to the phony ID card scam beginning in late 2021 and lasting through August 2024.

Murray could not be reached for comment Friday.

A report released Thursday by MTA Inspector General Daniel Court accuses three dozen LIRR workers of producing, distributing and using counterfeit employee ID cards. Employees allegedly swiped the cloned cards at time clocks at three LIRR facilities to cover for the absences of their co-workers, allowing some to be paid for hours they never worked.

Investigators and the LIRR have said they are unable to calculate how much the plot cost the railroad in unearned wages.

According to Newsday's analysis of 2024 payroll records, 30 of the employees in the three most popular titles made nearly double the overtime compared to other employees. The seven gang foremen implicated in the investigation each made $100,143 in overtime on average, about 58% more than other gang foremen at the railroad.

Other accused workers similarly made much more in overtime last year than the average for other employees with the same titles. The 12 implicated road car inspectors averaged $41,683 in overtime, as compared with the $30,978 earned by other car inspectors. The 10 car repairmen accused in the scheme averaged $79,046 in overtime in 2024, as compared with the $29,515 in overtime averaged by all car repairmen at the railroad, according to records.

Five of the LIRR’s top 10 overtime earners in 2023 were among the 36 workers implicated in the investigation. Asked whether that suggests that much of their overtime earnings were fraudulent, LIRR President Robert Free, in an interview Thursday, said, "I can’t say that based on the investigation."

Free said audits are regularly conducted on the legitimacy of overtime, and that those audits have since been "enhanced ... to ensure the employees are there for the time."

Free has said all of the employees implicated in inspector general’s probe have or will face "severe punishment."

Although none fully cooperated in the probe, inspector general investigators said 24 of the 36 accused workers ultimately admitted possessing cloned ID cards.

Murray, who joined the railroad as a car cleaner in 1994, remains in service "subject to further disciplinary proceedings, up to, and including, termination," according to the inspector general’s report. Investigators said Murray has "denied any involvement in the creation, distribution, possession, and use of cloned cards," but added that "those denials are belied by statements from other employees who implicated" him and other gang foremen.

The International Railway Supervisors Association, the union representing LIRR gang foremen, did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement earlier this week, Anthony Simon, who heads the union representing other implicated LIRR workers, said his members "accepted responsibility for their actions and have faced the appropriate disciplinary measures."

"We stand by our commitment to fairness, integrity, and second chances — because that’s how trust is rebuilt and how people grow, both personally and professionally," said Simon, general chairman of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

At the LIRR’s busy Jamaica Station Thursday, commuters expressed outrage and disappointment, if not surprise, over the latest allegations of railroad workers on the take.

"Nothing surprises me anymore. I think it's horrible," said Deborah Randolph, of Rockville Centre. "It's just people trying to get over. [When] people think they can get away with things, they'll try it."

St. Albans resident McAndy Germain said the accused workers should be criminally prosecuted, "especially as much as we’re paying for these fares."

LIRR ticket prices are set to rise an average of 4.4% in January.

"If you’re working for a company that serves the people, [there’s] a level of integrity that you need to have," Germain said. "This is our money that's funding this ... Why are you stealing from us?"

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office investigated the alleged scheme, but said there was not enough evidence to bring charges. Prosecutors in Manhattan and Queens — where the counterfeit card scheme also played out — have not said whether they are investigating.