Police investigate bus drivers accused of rort

Police are now investigating nine bus drivers accused of stealing money from Go Wellington, after they exploited a failure in Go Wellington's payment system to pocket tens of thousands of dollars in fares.

The drivers were fired in the past three months, with the company accusing them of stealing at least $20,000 between May and June. However, about $500,000 is still missing, lost over a period of three years.

Criminal charges were not initially laid but the drivers were forced to pay the money back.

The thefts are believed to be just the tip of the iceberg, with at least $500,000 going missing in three years.

It stems from the collapse of the company's fare payment system, which regularly failed to reconcile what bus drivers received in fares with the money they were expected to return to the depot after their shifts.

It is understood some drivers were often skimming more than half of their fares. The Dominion Post has seen a document that shows one driver stole more than $12,000 of the $20,000 in fares he collected within a three-month period.

The rort was exposed when the new Snapper debit card system became fully operational this year and discrepancies started to appear.

Bruce Kenyon, Go Wellington general manager, confirmed nine drivers had been fired because of "irregularities found in reconciling revenue off their buses". He refused to elaborate on the rort.

"As a business we investigate revenue discrepancies and in accordance with our employment processes take the appropriate action. We have a zero tolerance for theft."

When pressed yesterday, the company would not say why criminal charges were not laid. However, in a statement released this morning Go Wellington said complaints had been lodged with the police.

Greater Wellington regional council gives Go Wellington about $12.4m a year to run city buses. However, ratepayers have not been hit by the rort as fares go directly to the company. Chairwoman Fran Wilde was unaware of the sackings or the missing money.

When approached by The Dominion Post, Wellington Tramways Union secretary Kevin O'Sullivan referred questions to the company but asked why Go Wellington had not acted sooner when it noticed money was missing.

Mr O'Sullivan said he was disappointed some drivers had taken advantage of the system, but pointed out that only nine of the more than 350 Go Wellington drivers had been involved.

"The union doesn't support or condone theft," he said. "But the company has allowed this situation and the temptation that went along with it to last for three years. In all that time the company has ignored it and they have some responsibility to have proper systems and processes in place to stop that sort of thing happening."

Mr O'Sullivan said the fact only a small number of drivers had taken advantage of the system was "testimony to how honest our drivers are".

The average Go Wellington driver earns between $36,000 and $40,564 a year. Go Wellington is a subsidiary of NZ Bus, which in turn is owned by Infratil.

In 1999, three Stagecoach drivers were convicted of taking about $110,000 from Stagecoach in a rort that lasted up to four years.