Federal authorities say a North Jersey gas station manager has admitted making approximately $78,000 in fraudulent fuel charges using account information belonging to more than 17 gas station customers, including Amtrak.

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U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger says 40-year-old Umer Hassan Mir of South Amboy has pleaded guilty to, "knowingly and with intent to defraud effecting transactions with one or more access devices issued to other persons having a value over $1,000, over a one-year period of time."

According to Sellinger's office, from February 2018 through August 2021, while working at a Delta gas station in Metuchen,

Mir caused numerous fraudulent fuel charges to be entered on fuel credit cards leased by the General Services Administration (GSA) and assigned to Amtrak vehicles. Mir would manually enter account information regarding fuel credit cards that he personally collected and saved during legitimate fuel transactions electronically into the point-of-sale terminal at the Delta gas station. Following false fuel transactions, Mir withdrew cash in the amount of the fraudulent transaction from the gas station’s cash register. According to statements in court, Mir used this cash for personal expenses and to pay another gas station employee for working extra hours on Mir’s behalf.

Mir now faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for December 13th.

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