Jury Indicts Former MTA Controller

A former top official at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on 29 counts of defrauding the transit agency out of $50,000 in the second criminal prosecution of a former MTA executive.

Jeannie I. Johnson, a former acting controller at the MTA, was accused of taking kickbacks from accountants on a project she supervised.

The indictment alleges that Johnson caused the MTA to be “improperly billed” by five accountants between September 1995 and July 1996.

On average, the accountants were paid about $30 per hour, but the MTA was billed about $55 per hour. Johnson received the difference, the indictment alleges.

Johnson’s attorney, Stanley L. Friedman, said Wednesday that his client “intends on proving her innocence in court.”

In 1995, Abdoul Sesay, who oversaw insurance operations for subway construction, pleaded guilty to federal bribery and tax violations. He is due to be sentenced March 24.

Johnson, 53, of Walnut Creek, was fired from her MTA job in May after her brief tenure when agents of the MTA inspector general discovered the alleged fraud, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Nathan J. Hochman, who is prosecuting the case. Johnson is accused of mail fraud, a violation of federal law, because the billings and checks were sent through the mail.

Johnson told The Times in May that she was fired to “cover up” what she alleged was a conspiracy by her boss and that she intended to sue the MTA.

“When wrongful, corrupt acts are disclosed about the MTA, there is a customary pattern of retaliation--and this indictment seems to be a reflection of that pattern,” said Johnson’s civil attorney, Pamela Mozer.

If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine per count. She is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 10.

When asked whether charges would be brought against the accountants, Hochman declined to comment.

“We applaud the efforts of the U.S. attorney and our own inspector general for conducting their investigation,” MTA Board Chairman Larry Zarian said. “This indictment serves notice that anyone who would break the law by defrauding the MTA will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”