HRT lawyer: Theft prosecution would be hard

Hampton Roads Transit's lawyer said Thursday that the agency could not build a strong enough case to file criminal charges against three employees suspected of stealing about $80,000 from bus fare boxes.

Attorney Don Clark, referencing an internal investigation report, said, "It did not have the evidence, in my opinion, that could be the basis of a successful criminal prosecution."

The employees, however, were fired for failing to follow company procedures that led to the possible theft, Clark said.

He added that a civil case was not pursued because of the time and expense involved.

"Even if it was successful, what do you think the chances of collecting money are?" Clark said.

Many HRT board members were surprised to learn Wednesday about the missing money and expressed anger that the information was not shared with them until The Virginian-Pilot filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

The alleged theft occurred from electronic bus-fare boxes in Virginia Beach over a six-month period last year and was documented in a recent independent audit. Although the audit was presented to the full board last month, the missing funds were not disclosed. Several board members who sit on the budget and audit committee were briefed on the situation.

It's not the first inside theft from HRT, but it might be the largest in recent memory of several HRT officials.

Larry Davenport, HRT senior vice president for finance for about five years, said: "When you deal with cash, you're going to have people try to take it. This is the largest amount, by far, I've had to deal with."

Most other cases were in the hundreds of dollars, he said, and employees have been fired but not prosecuted.

Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said his office was never contacted by HRT or its lawyers about the $80,000. The money went missing from HRT bus-fare boxes in Virginia Beach.

"It would have been prudent to turn the evidence over to law enforcement and let them determine if it's a prosecutable case," he said.

Clark added, "Commonwealth's Attorneys' offices are good at prosecuting street crime but not as good at prosecuting white-collar crime."

Bryant said that while his lawyers handle a greater volume of street crimes, they also prosecute embezzlement cases regularly.

Hearing the circumstances of the case, Bryant said: "That's not complicated at all; that's outright grand larceny. We're perfectly capable of doing it."

The lack of communication over the missing funds has contributed to growing discontent among transit and city leaders with the performance of HRT President and CEO Michael Townes.

Townes has been criticized for racking up more than $100 million in cost overruns in Norfolk's light-rail project and for not being forthcoming about the extent of the problem. In the past month, the price tag climbed to $340 million, 47 percent more than when construction began. The opening date for The Tide has been pushed to early 2011.

The HRT board has called a special meeting for Monday at 2 p.m. to discuss Townes' performance. Four board members have called for him to resign or face dismissal.

Meanwhile, HRT has changed its money-handling procedures as a result of the missing money. Policy had required that two employees pick up cash from HRT satellite locations. Now, they must be accompanied by a private security guard, and the transfer of the money must be witnessed by an operations supervisor, Davenport said.

"It's an additional expense, but we felt that it was necessary."

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com