Two railway workers in the Bay Area are facing felony charges for allegedly constructing secret apartments in two train stations. According to reports, former Caltrain Deputy Director Joseph Navarro and contractor Seth Andrew Worden are accused of converting two offices into apartments at the Burlingame and Millbrae stations. If convicted, they could each face up to four years in prison for misusing public funds.
Worden, a 61-year-old from San Diego County, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, while Navarro, a 66-year-old who now lives in Pennsylvania, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 29. Both were fired from Caltrain after their secret apartments were discovered.
Prosecutors allege that Navarro and Worden conspired to approve $42,000 in public funds to remodel the office spaces into apartments without proper oversight. The criminal complaint also claims that Worden used $8,000 of taxpayer money to build himself a small apartment in the Millbrae station.
Despite the illegal nature of their actions, some online commentators have expressed admiration for the duo’s ability to build affordable housing at low costs. However, the two individuals are now facing serious legal consequences for their actions.
Two railway workers in the Bay Area are facing felony charges for allegedly building secret apartments in two train stations. Joseph Navarro and contractor Seth Andrew Worden are accused of converting office spaces at the Burlingame and Millbrae train stations into apartments using public funds. They allegedly conspired to approve $42,000 in public building funds for the remodeling, ensuring that no invoices exceeded $3,000 without further approval. Worden also used $8,000 of taxpayer funds to build himself a small apartment in one of the stations. Both men were fired from Caltrain when their secret apartments were discovered, with Navarro scheduled to be arraigned in April. The online community took notice of the low cost of building the apartments and joked about hiring Worden to build affordable housing.
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