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A subway foreman may have helped as many as 10 unqualified workers — including the ex-con son of a top transit official — land complex safety jobs inspecting signals that keep trains from colliding, sources told The Post.
Recently retired Kevin McGinley allegedly gave sham references for a slew of prospective MTA hires, claiming they gained experience while working for him at his side business, KJ McGinley Electrical Contracting.
But some inspectors who claimed to have worked for McGinley couldn’t tell investigators the Brooklyn address of his shop, the source said. Other applicants claimed they worked at McGinley’s shop after it was shuttered.
One of the bogus references went to Patrick Sohan, 24, the troubled son of a high-ranking subway supervisor who has the same name, sources said.
His phony credentials helped him land a plum, $61,344-a-year job as a signal maintainer — despite having been arrested in 2006 for robbing a 93-year-old woman on Long Island.
Both Sohans have been fired.
His dad allegedly helped him phony-up his application, which cited non-existent electrical experience, and also get a leave of absence — supposedly to care for a sick relative. He actually used it to serve time in jail. It not clear for what offense.
MTA signal maintainer Luis Torres — who clams he worked at McGinley’s shop — has already been fired for giving false information on his résumé, the source said.
Other workers being probed for using McGinley’s company as a reference include his nephew William McGinley, his brother James McGinley, and signal worker Celso Guzman, said the source.
McGinley denied all the charges, insisting any reference he ever gave was legit.
“I have nothing to hide,” he told The Post. “Those guys worked for me, and the MTA didn’t believe it.”
He speculated that some of the men didn’t know the shop’s address because they often worked at outside locations.
But probers aren’t convinced.
The MTA inspector general and the Manhattan DA are investigating.
A source said they are also probing whether McGinley got preferential treatment that helped him boost his overtime because of his role in the alleged scam, although it’s unclear who gave it to him.
He denied the allegation.