John George’s Loot

Back between 2008 and 2010, John George Jr.’s Union Street Bus Company denied about 800 people with disabilities to ride on his paratransit vehicles.

In what could turn out to be an iconic twist of fate, some of the cash seized by federal agents might be used to improve those special vehicles with GPS and other software.

According to the Standard Times, Erik Rousseau, executive administrator of the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA), stated this week that George’s court-ordered payment of more than $689,000 will probably go towards one-time purchases, such as busses.

The plan for the SRTA would include installing GPS technology on every bus to provide real-time arrival estimates that would be displayed at SRTA terminals in New Bedford and Fall River.

Installing these intelligent transportation systems on buses could count passengers as they get on and off the bus.

George was convicted back in April of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from SRTA over the years.

In the past few weeks, federal authorities discovered about $2.7 million in assets controlled by George and it is unknown where that money was stolen from.

Judge Denise J. Casper, for the United States District Court signed an execution order detailing the use of the cash that was seized for John George Jr.’s restitution payment to SRTA. George has 20 days to ask the court for a hearing opposing the cash’s use.

With additional reporting by Sal Lopez