The chief executive of the embattled Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is on paid administrative leave while the state police examine the agency’s internal records.
RIPTA board chairman and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian placed CEO Charles Odimgbe on leave after receiving information from an investigator and special advisor to Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
Chafee appointed state police Lieut. Col. Raymond Studley to oversee an investigation of RIPTA after personnel at the agency’s Providence facility covered security cameras in the room where employees count bus fares. Three employees were fired, with further action expected.
RIPTA’s finances are already under a statewide transportation review Chafee ordered earlier this summer. Peter Marino, the director of the new Office of Management and Budget, is coordinating that review.
The agency has a projected deficit of nearly $8 million for fiscal 2013.
