Timecard Scam Results In Arrests Of 2/3 Of Department

Twelve maintenance workers at Miami International Airport are in hot water... and, in jail... on suspicion of their participation in a payroll defrauding scheme.

Authorities say all 12 worked in the conveyor belt shop at the airport... and allegedly swiped each other's badges into the timeclock, so coworkers would get paid... regardless of whether or not they were on the job.

"They were either coming into work late, not coming into work at all, and they were swiping each other in," said Lauren Stover, assistant director of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, to Miami's WPLG-10.

An investigation into the suspected fraud began a year ago, after the aviation department noticed discrepancies in payroll. An internal audit was then conducted, with officials searching payroll records from September 2004 to October of this year.

Airport officials found the department supervisor, Kenneth Reposkey, signed off on the hours recorded in the scheme. He's now one of the 12 arrested, and charged with grand theft and organized scheme to defraud. And more employees in the 19-member department may be charged, as well, Stover said.

Now, this may seem to be a relatively minor incident, in the grander scheme of things... but Stover says it's a possible sign the crew may have been willing to commit other crimes on airport property.

"If they're willing to do things for money, what else were they willing to do?" Stover asked.

FMI: www.miami-airport.com/