Prosecutors: 2 JFK Air Traffic Controllers Charged With Stealing More Than $165K In Unearned Pay
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two air traffic controllers at John F. Kennedy Airport have been charged with allegedly stealing more than $165,000 by manipulating payroll records.
Jeffrey Evagues, of Manorville, Long Island, and Asif Ali, of Queens, were arrested Thursday and charged with stealing federal employee benefits and payroll.
They're accused of modifying computer records at least 300 times to indicate they had worked when they were actually off, either out sick or on vacation, authorities said.
Prosecutors say in one instance, Evagues claimed he worked an eight-hour day when his cell phone records showed he was 4,900 miles away in Hawaii, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
The alleged scheme occurred between 2011 and this year.
Prosecutors: 2 JFK Air Traffic Controllers Charged With Stealing Unearned Pay
"For three years, these air traffic controllers engaged in a high-flying scheme to redirect public funds into their own bank accounts," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. "Today they were grounded."
Prosecutors say security cameras caught the two defendants entering the room with the payroll computers.
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