Has JATA Left Itself Open to Fraud?

• Video shows JATA vehicles, facilities, board meeting, quotes from FTA review and a former JATA employee.
• JATA Board of Directors spends an hour in closed session.
• Former JATA Financial Coordinator recounts financial practices she found questionable.
• Federal Transit Administration Triennial Review of JATA points out risks of "unauthorized or fraudulent acts".

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

The Jackson Area Transportation Authority Board of Directors met Thursday for the first time since our report on its management and safety problems. And we are now learning that allegations may run deeper.

An hour-long meeting behind closed doors. Accusations of persistent safety issues. And now, questions about finances.

Since we first told you about issues at JATA , I requested and received a public record of a Federal Transit Administration review.

Part of it reads:

“JATA's responsibilities for duties and functions are not segregated within the organization to reduce the opportunity for unauthorized or fraudulent acts.”

Former JATA Financial Coordinator Heather Rodgers says she was so unnerved by the financial practices she saw, that she left JATA within four months.

Rodgers did not wish to be shown, but recounted to me how she suspected cash and tickets were improperly handled by Finance Director Dawn Mroczka.

“Every week, Dawn would count the money by herself. The financial coordinator is supposed to be the second person in a two-person system. But I wasn’t,” says Rodgers.

She notes she had no access to the organization’s bank account to verify deposits.

As for used tickets, Rodgers says they were often kept outside of a secure area. Bags, she says, went missing, and serial numbers were not recorded.

I offered Mroczka, who was at today’s Board meeting, a chance to respond. She declined.

As the internal investigation at JATA continues — confirmed at today’s Board meeting — the Board as well as local stakeholders remain mostly silent.

WATCH OUR INITIAL REPORT ON SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AT JATA:

Safety Neglect and Mismanagement Allegations Prompt Investigation at Jackson Area Transportation Authority (JATA)

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