The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has announced that one of its former employees was sentenced to 14 days incarceration and two years supervised release for his alleged role in a fraudulent scheme involving the agency.
Kirby Smith, who served as an assistant superintendent for Metro, “conspired with former National Football League (NFL) player, Brian Carpenter, to defraud WMATA of over $300,000,” according to a statement by Metro.
Smith pleaded guilty to violating federal law regarding the supplementation of a government official’s salary. In addition to his sentence, he has to pay restitution to WMATA in the amount of $174,054, as per the court ruling that came on September 29.
Carpenter had also pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA) to orchestrating the conspiracy in July 2020.
Through the Flintstone Group, a company owned by him in Leesburg, Virginia, Carpenter helped facilitate the sale and distribution of janitorial products, WMATA explained in its statement. The former NFL player approached Smith while he was working at WMATA.
Smith had a WMATA-issued credit card as part of his position at the agency’s maintenance and custodial services division. He gave his card to Carpenter so that he could charge it for supplies that were never delivered, as per Carpenter’s plan.
Carpenter kept a significant portion of the amount charged from the sales for his own personal benefit, and Smith received cash payments in return.
In order to avoid detection, Carpenter used nearly 10 different companies for processing transactions from Smith’s WMATA-issued credit card. He also gave Smith fake invoices making it look like that WMATA paid for and received the products it ordered.
In total, Metro spent at least $310,000 on products that were never received.
The investigation was a joint effort by the US Attorney’s Office for the EDVA, FBI – Washington Field Office, and WMATA Office of Inspector General.