A crafty Brooklyn toll collector was busted for stealing more than $24,270 in tolls he collected from commuters — replacing the stolen dough with counterfeit cash, authorities said Wednesday.
Jonathan Germain, 22, was caught on video taking currency from a bag he brought with him and switching it with cash from his assigned deposit bag inside his Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel toll booth on June 12, according to a criminal complaint.
MTA officials later examined Germain’s deposit bag and found $3,000 in counterfeit bills inside, the complaint states.
Germain worked 10 shifts between May 23, 2013, and June 13, 2014, and MTA cashiers found $24,270 in counterfeit cash in his deposit bags following those shifts, according to his complaint.
“Public tolls are supposed to go into the public treasury — not the pockets of the toll collector,” said DA Ken Thompson.
“We simply cannot allow employees in positions of trust to rip off the public that they are supposed to serve.”
Germain — who hails from East Flatbush — was arraigned Wednesday morning in Brooklyn criminal court on grand larceny and counterfeiting raps.
He faces five to 15 years behind bars if found guilty. He was released without bail and will return to court on Sept. 9.