Pa.: 2 turnpike employees paid thousands for work they didn't do
Two former employees of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission were charged Wednesday by state prosecutors with collecting pay for time they did not work.
Update: Sharie Anne Sacco was acquitted of all charges on Feb. 1, 2017.
Original story:
Two former employees of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission were charged Wednesday by state prosecutors with collecting pay for time they did not work.
Sharie Anne Sacco, 56, and Stephen Michael Dombek, 51, were accused of stealing more than $8,000 by falsifying their work hours and using state vehicles for personal use.
The Turnpike Commission conducted 39 days of surveillance between April and June last year on Sacco, a construction manager, and caught her submitting bogus time reports for all 39 days, prosecutors said.
Sacco, a 32-year employee based at the commission's Quakertown maintenance facility, allegedly received $5,918 for work she did not perform.
She also submitted false meal reimbursements and used her turnpike vehicle for personal use while she was under surveillance, prosecutors said.
Dombek, a turnpike construction manager working from locations in Lehigh and Luzerne Counties, was placed under surveillance for 17 days in February and March last year.
He was caught falsifying time records for $2,196 in pay, submitting false meal reimbursements, and using a turnpike vehicle for personal use, prosecutors said.
Sacco, of Lehigh County, and Dombek, an eight-year employee who lives in Luzerne County, were both charged with tampering with public records, theft, and related offenses.
Bail was set at $20,000 for each. Preliminary hearings were tentatively set for next Thursday for Dombek and June 24 for Sacco.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office is prosecuting.
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