A former Keolis engineer pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in a yearslong fraud and tax evasion scheme in which he and a co-conspirator stole more than $8 million from the MBTA’s commuter rail operator, the US Attorney’s office said.
John P. Pigsley, 59, previously worked as the assistant chief engineer of facilities for Keolis Commuter Services, which has run the MBTA’s commuter rail system since 2014. In 2023, prosecutors charged Pigsley and his co-conspirator, John Rafferty, of defrauding Keolis and the IRS by falsifying more than $4 million in invoices, stealing and selling more than $4.5 million in copper wire, and failing to pay federal income tax on that money.
On Friday, Pigsley pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of tax evasion, one count of filing a false tax return, and four counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements, according to the US Attorney’s office.
Rafferty, who was the general manager of LJ Electric, an electrical supply vendor for Keolis, pleaded guilty in June 2023.
Over a span of more than five years, Rafferty purchased millions of dollars worth of construction equipment and supplies, and then submitted fake invoices to Keolis at Pigsley’s direction, prosecutors said. Pigsley also had Keolis purchase copper wire, which he then stole and sold as scrap metal, making more than $4.5 million, prosecutors said.
Pigsley did not pay federal income taxes on the money he made through the scheme, filed a fake tax return for his 2016 taxes, and deposited nearly $2 million in cash in his bank account with the intention of avoiding detection, according to prosecutors.
Both Pigsley and Rafferty are scheduled for sentencing in April.
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com.