Consultants billed California high-speed rail for late-night rides to CEO's home
Expense records show two high-paid consultants charged taxpayer-funded Lyft rides to and from the residence of High-Speed Rail CEO Ian Choudri, including trips after midnight.
Investigators examined thousands of pages of invoices from KPMG and the law firm Nossaman submitted for the California High-Speed Rail Authority and identified dozens of Lyft rides to and from the Folsom residence of CEO Ian Choudri, many occurring after 1 a.m. The consultants, Thierry Prate of KPMG and Brent Butzin of Nossaman, billed the rides as expenses for the multibillion-dollar rail project. The expense forms did not specify the destinations or justify the trips under state travel rules, and the authority could not demonstrate advance approval for most of them.
An email from KPMG labeled one ride as “related to work with Ian,” but no further details were provided. The inspector general’s report highlighted systemic failures in travel oversight, noting that a large portion of the reviewed travel costs could not be validated as allowable under contract terms.
Why it matters
Taxpayer money may be spent on undocumented travel, raising concerns about oversight of a costly public infrastructure project.
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