Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Jeff German: Taxicab industry, regulators reeling from airport scandal

SCANDAL HAS ROCKED the state-regulated taxicab industry at its busiest and most crucial destination, McCarran International Airport.

Within the past month, a Nevada Taxicab Authority officer stationed at the airport and a cab company supervisor have been fired for their reported roles in a ticket scam that may have cheated the airport out of thousands of dollars.

The mess has cast a shadow over the Taxicab Authority's integrity and may have contributed to the loss of a $500,000-a-year contract to oversee taxis at the airport.

Authority Administrator Bob Anselmo, who's only been at the helm since September, has put out a memo that another 11 of the 23 officers stationed at McCarran may be laid off because of the airport's decision to cancel its contract.

"We believe that all of our employees are trustworthy and honorable," Anselmo says. "This is just one incident that unfortunately has besmirched the integrity of everyone."

Anselmo says investigators have no way of knowing exactly how long the scam was taking place and how much money was embezzled. But it is estimated in the thousands.

Criminal prosecution also isn't being pressed because witnesses have been reluctant to come forward, he adds.

The scheme, Anselmo says, involves the unlawful sale of tickets printed by the airport to cabbies looking to pick up fares at McCarran.

By law, drivers must pay $1.20 per ride for the privilege of doing business at McCarran. They purchase tickets from vendors at the airport, and then are allowed to pass the tax on to their fares.

Last year, according to the Taxicab Authority, cabbies made 1.6 million trips out of McCarran, the nation's ninth-busiest airport. At $1.20 a clip, that comes out to nearly $2 million in revenue for the airport.

Taxicab investigators suspect at least two airport officers, including the fired one, were holding onto tickets they collected from drivers and re-selling them at a cut rate. The officers allegedly were part of a black market ring associated with the fired cab company supervisor.

Not enough evidence, I'm told, has been gathered to force the resignation of the second Taxicab Authority officer. The first one was let go after he refused to take a polygraph.

Insiders say the scam was uncovered in October after Anselmo and his investigators were approached by a driver who had purchased tickets from the dismissed officer.

The Taxicab Authority launched its investigation in conjunction with the airport, but no other cabbies would step forward.

"We don't think it was very widespread," Anselmo says. "But we don't know exactly how many drivers were buying these tickets."

Anselmo conceded, however, that thousands of dollars may have been embezzled and that the scam was going on for months and possibly years.

The fired officer had been working at the Taxicab Authority for 18 months, and the other officer under suspicion has been there six years.

"It's probably a good lesson for both us and the airport in that sometimes we get complacent," Anselmo says. "We need to constantly review what we do in our operations to ensure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

Anselmo, who would not identify the subjects of the investigation, says he has tightened up procedures for handling tickets at the airport in the wake of the probe.

But those new controls won't be in place long.

Anselmo acknowledges the scandal has figured into the airport's decision to take away his control of the ticket-collecting chores on July 1.

The authority still will keep officers at the airport to monitor the activities of the cabbies. But the officers won't be handling any tickets. And without the $500,000 a year from the airport to pay for salaries, the authority's force will have to be scaled down.

Dave Kimball, assistant director for land-side operations at McCarran, says he sees the takeover as a way to better use the airport's work force.

"We think we can save $100,000 the first year," he says. "I think it will work out real well."

Not surprisingly, Anselmo agrees with that assessment.

archive