NJ school bus company indicted for ‘flagrant’ safety violations, AG says – Asbury Park Press
TRENTON – The owners of an Essex County-based school bus contractor have been indicted on multiple fraud- and conspiracy-related charges for allegedly falsifying records to coverup the fact that they hired unqualified drivers, failed to conduct mandatory drug testing and criminal background checks, and operated unsafe buses, the state Attorney General’s Office announced Tuesday.
The accused are F&A Transportation Inc. and its owners, Ahmed Mahgoub and Faiza Ibrahim, originally charged by a criminal complaint-summons on Oct. 8. The company was among those highlighted in a USA TODAY Network New Jersey 2020 investigation into lax oversight of private school bus contractors. The indictment alleges violations of state laws and contracts with multiple school districts.
“Parents want to know their children are safe when they get on the bus to go to school each day,” New Jersey Acting Attorney General Andrew J Bruck said in a release announcing the indictments. “We will not tolerate the type of flagrant and widespread safety violations alleged here, involving unfit drivers as well as unsafe buses.”
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The charges stem from $3.5 million worth of contracts F&A had with school districts in Essex, Passaic, Morris and Union counties from 2016 to 2020. In some cases, F&A was doing business under the names Smart Union Inc. and Unity Transportation Inc.
Mahgoub, 63, and Ibrahim, 48, a husband and wife from East Hanover, were charged initially on Oct. 8 — days after the USA Today Network published its investigation, which revealed loopholes in incorporation, inspection and public contract laws that allow questionable operators to skirt laws aimed at keeping children safe on school buses.
State investigators accused the couple and their company of knowingly hiring drivers who did not have valid commercial driver’s licenses or other required credentials, had criminal histories or were using illegal drugs.
The Attorney General’s Office also accuses the couple and the company of falsifying inspection forms required to be kept by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. School districts rely on the forms to determine buses are safe.
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Christopher Adams, the attorney representing Maghoub and F&A, declined to comment on specifics of the case, but said, “The indictment, in my view, is a bit overreaching. We look forward to them being put to their proofs in court.”
Issues with F&A became public in late February 2019, when one of the company’s buses carrying 12 special-needs students crashed into a building in Newark after an employee driving the bus overdosed on heroin. That employee, however, was only qualified at the time to work as a bus aide, not the driver.
And while auditing F&A’s driver records, state investigators found that just nine of the company’s 51 employees had complete and up-to-date files. For the rest, the MVC found a plethora of missing and expired documents that are required to ensure that employees are qualified to drive a school bus, including:
- 23 employee files were without driver abstracts, which detail motor vehicle history.
- 13 employee files had an physical exam that had since expired.
- 11 employee files showed no physical exam.
- Four employee files were missing completely.
- Four employee files had expired copies of driver’s licenses.
- Two employee files had outdated driver abstracts.
Mahgoub and Ibrahim allegedly told drivers to evade MVC inspections at school sites and directed bus aides to drive school buses, according to the indictment.
The Newark crash sparked the investigation by state authorities; however, it wasn’t the first time F&A had a run-in with state inspectors, the USA Today Network found.
Less than two weeks before the Newark crash, one of its drivers was caught driving without a commercial license during a surprise MVC inspection at The Allegro School, a Hanover Township school that specializes in programming for students with autism.
F&A pleaded guilty and paid $2,539 in fines and court costs, Municipal Court records show.
The F&A indictment comes about six months after a second private school bus contractor highlighted in the Network’s school bus investigation was indicted.
A-1 Elegant Tours, its owner and manager were charged with theft by deception, conspiracy, false representations for a government contract, tampering with public records or information and misconduct by a corporate official.
The Network’s school bus investigation has also prompted legislation making its way through the New Jersey General Assembly that would revamp school bus inspection laws based on the news organization’s findings.
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Susanne Cervenka covers Monmouth County government and property tax issues, winning several state and regional awards for her work. She’s covered local government for 15 years, with stops in Ohio and Florida before arriving in New Jersey in 2013. Contact her at @scervenka; 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com.