BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama jury has decided the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority must pay over $1 million after the agency made false claims to federal transportation officials.

On Tuesday, a jury found that BJCTA presented a “false claim for payment” to the Federal Transit Authority. BJCTA knew the claim was false, the jury found.

U.S. District Judge Corey Maze entered a final judgment in the case that requires BJCTA to pay $1,080,000; which the judge wrote is “3 times the amount of damages which the Government sustained.”

The decision was the result of a lawsuit filed by Starr Culpepper, a former transit employee, and O. Tameka Wren, who served as chair of the BJCTA board from October 2017 to January 2018.

Both Culpepper and Wren claimed that the transit authority was, among other things, engaged in practices that violated federal law requiring competitive bids for services. The suit also claimed that BJCTA, “through certain agents, employees, directors, managers and/or supervisors” violated the False Claims Act by “knowingly perpetrating and participating in, and/or conspiring with others participating in, schemes…to defraud the United State Government over a substantial period of time.”

The lawsuit, originally filed in April 2018, went to trial this February.

BJCTA was not the only defendant in the case. Initially, the suit included Strada Professional Services, Wendel Architecture, Sky Connect, Edmond V. Watters, Alice Gordon, Barbara Murdock,...

Read Full Story: https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/jury-finds-birmingham-transit-authority-viol...