In a development that underscores the potential for fraud within any organization, two train operators from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) have been arrested on multiple charges, including health care fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The operators, identified as Michelle Shropshire, 54, of Waldorf, Maryland, and Harlisha Jones, 49, of Clinton, Maryland, and Washington, DC, were taken into custody and are slated to appear before the District Court for the District of Columbia, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice .

The charges spring from a scheme that allegedly ran from June 2021 through January 2024. Documents presented in court allege that Shropshire and Jones used Jones’s insurance policies with American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (AFLAC) to submit fraudulent claims for non-existent injuries and treatments. They are accused of forging medical documents and physicians’ statements to support their claims, drawing around $58,750 from AFLAC, out of which, Jones reportedly paid back a 20% kickback to Shropshire.

A further twist in the investigation revealed that, in addition to Jones, Shropshire was allegedly aiding other WMATA employees with similar fraudulent claims. This wider scam resulted in fraudulent payouts by AFLAC totaling at least $362,035.14, benefiting a wider group of complicit employees. Other individuals involved, Sharon Washington, Selethia Blake, Brady Turner, Lushawn Foreman, and Margot Jackson, have recognized their roles in the scam and have entered guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. They are currently awaiting sentencing.

Both Shropshire and Jones face substantial prison sentences if convicted, with the maximum reaching up to 20 years for the primary charges, and an additional mandatory two-year term for aggravated identity theft. In announcing the arrests, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro reinforced the gravity of the offense: "An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law." The FBI Washington Field Office and the WMATA Office of Inspector General are handling the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Kelly and Diane Lucas lead the prosecutorial efforts, as per the U.S. Department of Justice .