| Updated: 2/01 12:18 pm |
Published: 1/31 9:31 pm
|
An Oklahoma Turnpike Authority worker is accused of nickel and diming thousands of dollars from drivers.
Betty Kuhn, 59, is charged with embezzling nearly $6,799.23 in toll money in fifteen months on the Creek Turnpike.
Even if it’s a pain to remember, for many drivers it’s the familiar routine of fishing for change to get through the toll booth.
There are millions of drivers on the Creek Turnpike every year.
“I'm always going that way,” says a Creek Turnpike driver.
The OTA reports in 2010 there were about 38 million drivers on the Creek Tollway.
“I take almost every day to get to work and to get where I train,” says a driver.
All of those nickels, dimes and quarters add up to better Oklahoma’s roads.
Court documents show the alarm sounded in the fall 2011 when OTA noticed irregularities.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol took over the investigation. Court documents show Kuhn is accused of stealing toll money between September 2010 and December 2011.
"It's crazy but tough times. Do what you got to do but it's not right,” says a driver.
That might seem like a lot but considering the Creek Turnpike made $25 million in 2010, it’s really a small fraction of the revenue from the Creek Turnpike.
Still that’s 28,000 quarters that should have gone to OTA.
"That seems very extreme especially since we are trying to pay for the roads,” says a driver.
OTA Spokesperson Jack Damrill says Kuhn was fired in December 2011.
He says the policies they have in place to watch employees work. Audits are routinely done and if there are any regularities audits and investigations are followed through by the OTA.
Jail records show Kuhn posted $2,000 bond two hours after she was arrested on Monday.
If convicted she would have pay a fine, restitution and at least five years in prison.
