MARTA’s former senior director of operations has pleaded guilty to using his position to steal $500,000.

“Joseph J. Erves, MARTA’s former Senior Director of Operations, has pleaded guilty in federal court to orchestrating a false invoice scheme that resulted in MARTA paying more than $500,000 for maintenance work that was never performed and for funneling most of the money back into his personal bank accounts,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

Erves was employed by MARTA from 1993 to 2017. He oversaw maintenance of MARTA’s buses and trains. He was authorized to approve payments of up to $10,000 to vendors, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“From approximately June 2010 to December 2016, Erves had fake invoices prepared on behalf of the three vendors for more than 40 maintenance projects for which no work was performed,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

He used those invoices to pay three vendors who had not performed work, often personally approving the payments. The vendors allegedly funneled most of that money into Erves’ personal bank accounts, which he used to pay for personal expenses like shopping at high-end department stores and buying a Porsche 911.