The California High-Speed Rail Authority board recently passed a resolution limiting the procurement and contract authority of CEO Ian Choudri. This decision came after an audit discovered that some travel expenses reported by consultants were deemed “wasteful and not allowable for reimbursement.”
On October 9, during a 90-minute closed-door meeting, the board approved the amendment with a 7-2 vote, stipulating that Choudri must obtain approval from the Authority’s legal counsel when handling contracts or procurement cases under $25 million.
The Office of the Independent Inspector General (OIG), responsible for overseeing the High-Speed Rail Authority, found that consultants from four contracting companies took first-class flights, used luxury ride-sharing services, visited exclusive lounges in Washington D.C., Planet Fitness gyms, escape rooms, as well as multiple residences in Folsom, Sacramento, and Walnut Creek without prior approval or providing valid reasons.
State regulations require employees or contractors to only report reasonable and necessary travel expenses, usually requiring approval from a contract manager beforehand.
As of the 9th, the investigation revealed that between 2024 and 2026, consultants from four companies filed $800,900 in unauthorized travel expenses, exceeding the $680,500 listed in the preliminary report from September 15.
The updated report also found that $595,600 of travel expenses during the same period did not comply with state regulations, contract terms, or reimbursement requirements from both.
Contract managers and consultants will be required to undergo training related to travel expenses. Board Chairman Steve Kawa stated that the Authority will also demand the repayment of any non-compliant consultant travel expenses.
The four contracting companies disclosed during the meeting are financial advisory firm KPMG, external legal counsel Nossaman LLP, the AECOM-Fluor joint venture responsible for project execution support services (PDS), and the SYSTRA/TYPSA joint venture responsible for rail and system design.
KPMG had hired Ian Choudri’s fiancée, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, in January.
Initially, the report stated that in three of the four contracts, “contract managers either had no role in approving travel requests or had very limited involvement,” instead considering the CEO or other executives’ desires to “handle in person” as approval criteria.
According to the report, in cases where the necessity of travel was questioned by contract managers, investigators were told, “It is not appropriate to question or ignore the CEO’s instructions… ‘Consultants from other offices of the Authority have suffered consequences.'”
The report also highlighted a consultant who flew a private plane from D.C. to California, costing $4,182 one way. He requested reimbursement based on the price of an equivalent commercial flight ticket, which was approved, despite the Authority not approving the use of a private plane or this reimbursement method beforehand.
AECOM employee Veronica Siranosian informed the board that the company reviewed the relevant travel expenses and found no substantial deviations in the approval process. “Each job in the contract has an approved travel percentage, so for us, this signifies that the Authority has approved the travel arrangements for that position.”
Epoch Times has reached out to the other three companies for comments.
Board member and former U.S. Representative Lynn Schenk, a Democrat from California, stated, “Based on decades of my experience, sometimes seemingly minor events can reveal deep-seated issues.” “I am trying to contain my emotions, but I am genuinely angry because we have been treated as an ATM.”
Republican leader of the State Assembly, Alexandra Macedo, called for the dismissal of CEO Choudri. In a letter to Chairman Kawa on the 8th, she wrote, “During Mr. Choudri’s tenure, the Authority has fostered a culture of disregarding state laws, ongoing poor financial management, lack of oversight, and abuse of executive power.”
Macedo also urged the board to suspend the reimbursement of all consultant fees and immediately initiate the first phase of recovery actions to reclaim improper expenses.