Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) Deputy CEO Bacarra Mauldin was fired last week after an internal investigation uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in misused agency funds.
Maudlin was placed on leave earlier this month after initial findings of the investigation uncovered over $800,000 in MATA funds were spent on charges including a $603,000 Memphis Grizzlies sponsorship, $144,000 in American Express charges, $56,000 for food and catering services.
In addition, Maudlin (pictured above) was found to have spent $7,000 at Best Buy, $10,000 on Amazon purchases, $8,000 on live entertainment, and more of MATA funds, which her attorney has previously argued were all “business-related” and that the investigation was a “witch hunt.”
A statement from MATA obtained by WREG Memphis said the investigation concluded that Mauldin “violated the agency’s procurement and travel policy and did not take steps to ensure compliance among her direct reports” and, as a result, led to her being terminated on Thursday.
“These findings represent a serious breach of the standards and expectations we uphold for all MATA leadership and staff,” MATA said. “Our focus moving forward is to ensure stability, restore trust, and continue providing safe, reliable, and equitable transit services for the people of Memphis.”
Maudlin’s firing for misspent funds comes as MATA has been forced to slash bus routes, issue layoffs, put its trolley system on hold, and be given emergency funding by the city – all while the agency has faced declining ridership over the years.
Mauldin previously served as interim CEO for MATA before the agency’s board was completely replaced by Memphis Mayor Paul Young in October after a third-party review of the transit agency found that MATA suffered from “poor financial management and oversight” and “an oversupply of transit service,” as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
John Lewis, an employee of the transit consulting group Transpro which completed the review of MATA, was installed as the agency’s acting CEO in January after MATA and Transpro entered into a $1.3 million contract to address the agency’s decline.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Bacarra Mauldin” by MATA.
