NYC subway guard hired to fight fare evasion caught on camera taking money to open gates
Stop cash-swiping!
A subway security guard hired to prevent fare evasion was caught on camera swiping passengers with an OMNY student card for cash.
A new report from MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort’s office showed a security guard tapping straphangers at the gates of a Brooklyn station — using a stolen Department of Education OMNY card intended for student use.
The IG report released Thursday did not identify the guard, who was removed from the subway after a passenger at the Eighth Avenue station in Brooklyn reported the scam to authorities last year.
“Gate guards are paid to stop traffic and provide a sense of security to the riding public, not to sell off subways and pocket money,” MTA IG Daniel Cort said in a statement.
“I am grateful to the passenger who reported this misconduct and appreciate NYC Transit’s comprehensive response, which resulted in the removal of the security guard from the subway system.”
The employee — a “gate guard” — was employed by an MTA contractor, Allied Security Services whose staff is supported to help prevent, not encourage, fare evasion.
It’s just the latest example of Allied Security operatives being caught red-handed handing out free fare.
Last May, The Post saw Allied Universal Security Services security guards inside Herald Square station hold down the emergency doors on two separate occasions to release a stack of fares.
The guard caught in the money-swiping scheme was hired on June 3, 2024 and worked at the Eighth Avenue station, according to the report. He told IG office investigators that he received no job training and no prior experience.
Detectives reviewed surveillance video after receiving a tip against him in July. The footage showed him at least five times between July 14 and July 18 arriving at the security fence and accepting money from passengers before ushering them through the gates.
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During three interviews – two on July 17 and one on July 18 – he was seen reaching back into his pocket and returning money to non-paying customers, the report said.
When questioned, the guard first said that he was using his OMNY card that he paid for himself but when he was told that the records showed that it was a student card, he said that he found it on the street.
“The Security Guard improperly accepted money from customers for personal gain, and in doing so, stole money from NYC Transit,” the report said.
His conduct violated Allied Security’s Code of Ethics “and may have constituted petty fraud,” the IG’s investigation concluded. But the IG’s office suggested that the theft was so minor that it did not warrant a criminal referral.
“This security guard will no longer work at an MTA location,” said an MTA spokesperson. “Taking cash to swipe passengers on the train illegally is exactly what this person is assigned to stop.”
Allied Security declined to comment.
The MTA has not accepted fare payments since April 2020 during the COVID-pandemic shutdown. Access is now only possible with an OMNY swipe card, debit card or other cashless options.
As a result, a passenger could not access the subway system without an OMNY card, an issued MetroCard or a debit card.
The MTA is losing a staggering $900 million due to runaway mergers on its buses and trains.
