Former CTA Retirement Plan clerk sentenced to prison for $356,000 fraud

CHICAGO - A former employee of the Chicago CTA has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement funds.

According to the indictment, Ayanna Nesbitt requested and received approval for fraudulent payments of Plan funds, including death benefits and pension contribution refunds, for CTA retirees or their beneficiaries.

The payment requests submitted by Nesbitt had inaccurate representations about the recipients' identities and entitlement to the payments. Nesbitt accepted the fraudulent funds in accounts she controlled, or had the money paid to others and then transferred to herself, the indictment stated.

Nesbitt fraudulently created about 43 payment request between 2019 and 2021. She defrauded the Plan funds of $356,934.

"Defendant was a public employee who abused her position to benefit herself and those close to her," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher K. Veatch argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

Nestbitt, now 51, of Chicago, was charged with five counts of wire fraud and pleaded guilty in 2022. She's been sentenced to a year and a day in prison.