Two charged in Yonkers school bus scheme

• Two people including a Yonkers school employee are charged with a scheme to bill for phony bus rides

YONKERS – A former supervisor in the city's cash-strapped school district and the owner of a school bus company were charged Thursday with a scam that authorities said involved $280,000 in phony transportation bills.

Anna Sollozzo, who worked as a supervisor in the Yonkers Board of Education Transportation Department, and William Ahern, owner of A Plus Transportation, were both arraigned Thursday in city court on felony charges.

They were each released on $10,000 bail each and told to return to court June 1.

The two were arrested following a year-long investigation by Yonkers police and the city's Inspector General's Office.

A Plus Transportation had contracts for bus services with Yonkers totaling $2,805,612 for September, 2012 through February, 2014. The investigation allegedly showed that Ahern's company made payments totaling $107,250 to Sollozzo's personal bank accounts. At the same time, the Yonkers Board of Education was billed for bus services by Ahern's company for after-school activities that were never actually provided, investigators allege.

The scheme involved creating a phony bus route to pick children up at the Nepperhan Community Center, investigators said. Ahern allegedly submitted false invoices for the routes and Sollozzo allegedly approved the invoices even though she knew the services were fictitious.

The Yonkers schools are facing a $26 million deficit and considering massive layoffs to balance the books. Sollozzo resigned from her position with the district after the start of the investigation, police said.

"How many music or art classes could have been maintained with that misappropriated money?" asked District Attorney Janet DiFiore, whose office is prosecuting the case.

Sollozzo, 52, of Yonkers was charged with grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument and receiving reward for official misconduct.

Ahern, 58, of Armonk, was charged with grand larceny and rewarding official misconduct.

Twitter: @JaneLernerNY