New Jersey Couple Charged In CityTime Payroll Scandal

A husband and wife consulting team accused of helping to siphon more than $460 million as part of the scandal plagued CityTime payroll modernization project may have fled to India, prosecutors said.

Reddy and Dr. Padma Allen, secured a no-bid subcontract as part of a scheme to make their consulting firm Technodyne, look like a successful and fast-growing company, according to court papers.

In actuality the engine of its growth was a scam to over bill the city by $40million lieu of helping the city implement a new employee time keeping system.

The couple was among four other people charged in the corruption scheme, the two fled to India in February after being served with grand jury subpoenas, according to the indictment.

Mark Mazer, a consultant on the CityTime automated timekeeping project, plead guilty to signing off on bogus bills in exchange for corrupt payments.

Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, called the CityTime scheme epic in duration, magnitude and scope.

Federal investigators allege another firm, SAIC, also defrauded taxpayers by submitting falsified bills. Only one official with the firm is accused of taking part in the scheme.

The original cost of the project was $63 million but it exponentially grew to more than $600 million.

Rose Gill Hearn, commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, said her office had already began reforms to address the corruption vulnerabilities in large [information technology] contracts uncovered by this investigation.

The Department of Investigation seized more than $38 million in assets as potential restitution in the