Former WMATA manager sentenced for involvement in fraudulent scheme

For immediate release: September 29, 2020

The following news release was issued by the WMATA Office of Inspector General.

On September 29, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), former Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Assistant Superintendent, Kirby Smith, was sentenced for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme involving WMATA. Smith was sentenced to 14 days incarceration, two years supervised release, and to pay restitution to WMATA in the amount of $174,054. Smith had pleaded guilty to violating federal law regarding the supplementation of a government official’s salary.

Smith conspired with former National Football League (NFL) player, Brian Carpenter, to defraud WMATA of over $300,000. In July 2020, Carpenter pleaded guilty in EDVA to orchestrating a conspiracy to defraud WMATA. 

Carpenter was the owner and operator of a Leesburg, Virginia company called the Flintstone Group. The company facilitated the sale and distribution of janitorial products. Some products were specifically labeled and created from Carpenter’s time in the NFL, including an enzyme solvent named “Blitz” and degreaser citrus solvent called “DG-28.”

Carpenter established a relationship with Smith when he was employed at WMATA. During his employment, Smith had a WMATA-issued credit card as part of his role as Assistant Superintendent for WMATA’s maintenance and custodial services division.

Carpenter devised a scheme whereby Smith permitted him to charge his WMATA-issued credit card for supplies that were never in fact delivered. In these instances, Carpenter would retain a substantial portion of the amount charged from the sales for his own personal benefit and Smith received cash payments in exchange for permitting Carpenter to charge his WMATA-issued credit card. To make it appear that he ran a wholly legitimate business and to circumvent WMATA’s internal credit card controls, Carpenter used at least 10 different companies to process transactions from Smith’s WMATA-issued credit card, most of whom were not in the janitorial supply business. Carpenter then provided Smith with fake and fraudulent invoices representing that WMATA paid for and received the products it ordered.

When WMATA’s Office of Inspector General began investigating the case, Carpenter provided investigators with altered invoices to make it appear that he had ordered or substituted all of the products that were charged to WMATA. In total, WMATA spent at least $310,000 on products that were never delivered.

This was a joint investigation involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Federal Bureau of Investigation – Washington Field Office, and WMATA Office of Inspector General.