New Jersey man pleads guilty to making $78k in fraudulent fuel charges on Amtrak vehicles

For Immediate Release

July 14, 2022

NEWARK, N.J. — A manager of a Delta gas station in Metuchen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making approximately $78,000 in fraudulent fuel charges using account information belonging to more than 17 customers, including Amtrak.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, Umer Hassan Mir, 40, of South Amboy, caused numerous fraudulent fuel charges to be entered on General Services Administration fuel credit cards assigned to Amtrak vehicles from February 2018 through August 2021. Mir collected and saved account information from these credit cards during legitimate fuel transactions. He later entered account information from these cards into the station’s point-of-sale terminal, then withdrew cash in the amounts of the fraudulent transactions from the cash register.

Mir used the cash for personal expenses and to pay another employee for working extra hours on Mir’s behalf.

The fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13, 2022.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger credited special agents of the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, Eastern Region, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Waters; the GSA OIG, Northeast Field Investigations Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Dattoria; and postal inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, with the investigation leading to Tuesday’s guilty plea. Sellinger also thanked the Metuchen Police Department, acting under the direction of Chief of Police Arthur Flaherty, for its assistance.

Reports of fraud, waste, or abuse; criminal or unethical acts affecting Amtrak’s property or operations; or mismanagement in Amtrak programs or operations can be made 24 hours a day via the Amtrak OIG Hotline at 1-800-468-5469 or online at https://direc.to/hPAu.

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