Deep Dives
Five investigation threads, each testing a specific fraud theory against primary evidence, plus cross-thread deep dives into the mechanisms. Every claim is sourced, every finding scored against the five-element legal standard for fraud.
Voters approved $9.95 billion in bonds based on a $33 billion cost estimate, 96 million riders per year, and completion by 2020. The ridership model assumed 73% highway diversion — 4.5 to 6.6 times every comparable system on Earth. The margin was 5.24%. Every number has since proven false.
WSP outnumbered state staff 25 to 1. They held the building lease, ran the IT systems, and staffed the unit that was supposed to oversee WSP. Of 184 tasks WSP marked as complete, 145 were not actually finished. Disputed invoices reached $288 million by 2025.
In September 2024, CHSRA signed a $3.07 billion federal grant agreement despite a known $5-10 billion funding gap, debunked ridership projections, and an electrification budget at 22% of what the same state paid for comparable work. Four months later, their own Inspector General confirmed the gap. All five elements of fraud are met.
Construction contracts ballooned from $2.8 billion to $8.6 billion through 1,500+ change orders. The Board delegated unlimited change order authority to the CEO with no dollar cap. CP2-3 grew from $1.37B to $3.69B through staff-level approvals — the Board learned about the $2 billion overrun only after the money was spent.
Fifteen years and $10 billion spent before anyone independent was empowered to look at the books. When an IG was finally created, it immediately found a $6.5-7 billion funding gap. Meanwhile, the Legislature was progressively shielding records from public disclosure.