EAST HANOVER — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) confirmed the sentencing of Ahmed Mahgoub, 66, of East Hanover, the owner of an Essex County-based school bus company, for serious violations that endangered public safety. Mahgoub’s company, F&A Transportation, Inc., failed to perform mandatory drug tests and background checks on drivers, including one driver who was later involved in a crash. The company also operated unsafe buses and attempted to conceal these violations.
Judge Mark Ali, Essex County Criminal Division Presiding Judge, sentenced Mahgoub to five years in state prison, as stipulated in a plea agreement with the OPIA Corruption Bureau. Mahgoub and F&A Transportation were also ordered to pay $500,000 in corruption profiteering penalties. Mahgoub and his company have been banned from conducting business with the State of New Jersey or its subdivisions for ten years.
“The defendant not only flouted government regulations and standards, he risked the lives of children by cutting corners,” stated Attorney General Platkin. “He now will serve a substantial term in prison.”
Drew Skinner, Executive Director of OPIA, emphasized the significance of the case: “The defendant skirted quality controls and oversight designed to ensure that qualified and trustworthy drivers were taking children to and from school each day. Those safety requirements are there for good reason, and circumventing them is unacceptable, as this sentence illustrates.”
Mahgoub and F&A pleaded guilty on March 6, 2024, to one count of false representation for a government contract (2nd degree). Faiza Ibrahim, 50, also of East Hanover and co-owner of F&A, entered the pretrial intervention program in charge of tampering with public records or information (3rd degree). Ibrahim received a 10-year ban from doing business with the State and must pay a $75,000 corruption profiteering penalty.
The OPIA and the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau investigated F&A’s contracts with school districts in Essex, Passaic, Morris, and Union counties from 2016 through 2020. The contracts had a combined value of approximately $3.5 million.
The investigation uncovered that the defendants knowingly hired drivers lacking valid commercial driver’s licenses or required endorsements, as well as drivers with criminal histories, substance abuse issues, and suspended licenses. Some drivers were hired before completing background checks or without any checks.
Additionally, F&A falsified vehicle inspection forms, falsely indicating their buses consistently passed inspections. These falsified forms, required by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), misled school districts about bus safety. Despite these falsifications, nearly all of F&A’s buses failed MVC inspections in February and August 2019.
Corruption Bureau Deputy Chief Frank Valdinoto prosecuted the case under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Co-Director Jeffrey Manis and OPIA Executive Director Skinner.
Defense Counsel:
For Ibrahim: Marvin Hammerman, Esq., Hammerman Rosen LLP, Fairfield, NJ
For Mahgoub: Sebastian Bio, Esq., Bio & Laracca, P.C., City of Orange, NJ
For F&A: Joseph Scura, Esq., Morristown, NJ
