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Man Who Stole $800K In Metrocards Sentenced


By

Ben Yakas

Published Jun 26, 2010

Modified Jun 26, 2010


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Jun 26, 2010

Modified Jun 26, 2010


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The Long Island man who ripped off more than $800,000 from the MTA over a three year period using a broken (or magic?) MetroCard machine in Penn Station was sentenced to a year in jail on Thursday. Carey Grant, 42, his wife, and another accomplice were caught two years ago dealing MetroCards to commuters on the Long Island railroad and New York subway system.

The "magic" MetroCard machine they discovered enabled customers to get free MetroCards and LIRR tickets if they used a debit card from a non-local bank with insufficient funds in the account. At the time of the arrest, officials swore that the odds of stumbling upon the error were "astronomical"; the scam was only discovered after a routine agency audit, a few years after the first free card was dispensed. Somewhere, Archibald Leach is not amused.

Tagged

metrocard

MTA

ripoff

subway


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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