BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
A jury yesterday (April 30) found a former Caltrain executive guilty of embezzling public funds and building a secret apartment in the Burlingame Train Station.
Joseph Vincent Navarro, 61, of Newtown, Penn., previously Caltrain’s deputy director of operations, turned a section of the Burlingame train station into an apartment with a bedroom, gym and living room, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
Navarro’s lawyers argued that other Caltrain executives knew about the “renovations” to the station and never objected, Wagstaffe said.
Former Caltrain Deputy Chief of Rail Development Gary Flemming and Project Manager Hubert Chan testified that they didn’t know anything about the changes made to the station.
From 2019 to 2020, Navarro and a previous station manager for TASI, the company contracted to run the train line, Seth Worden, 66, of Oceanside, worked together to construct small apartments in Burlingame and Milbrae train stations, Wagstaffe said.
Navarro told Worden to hire contractor James Cooney to remodel an unused office in the historic Burlingame train station to add a kitchen, shower, heating, plumbing and security cameras, Wagstaffe said.
All the invoices were kept below a $3,000 threshold so Worden’s expenditures didn’t have to be approved by anyone else at TASI or Caltrain.
In 2019-2020, Worden tried the same scheme and attempted to remodel part of the Milbrae station for his own use, but was caught by Caltrain employees in 2020, Wagstaffe said.
Navarro lived at the Burlingame train station until an anonymous tipster called Caltrain in 2022, Wagstaffe said. Around $50,000 of Caltrain’s money, which is funded by taxpayers and train tickets, was spent on the two projects – $8,000 for the Millbrae “renovations” and $42,000 for Burlingame, Wagstaffe said.
Navarro faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced on June 11, but the judge could also choose to give him probation, Wagstaffe said.
Worden took a plea bargain on Jan. 21. As part of the deal, Worden testified against Navarro during the trial this week and faces a maximum sentence of five months in county jail. He could be ordered to pay $8,144.01 restitution to the railroad. Worden is set to be sentenced on June 9.
The corruption never stops at Caltrain!
It was Caltain’s way of tackling the housing crisis.
Considering the fact that the state is willing to demolish any degree of retail and turn existing neighborhoods into endless rows of luxury prison condos not affordable to the average person, why is it so terrible that a housing unit went into the train station? We will do anything for an ADU … but not there? God knows far more than $42,000 of public money has gone into putting up those monstrosities everywhere that few can afford to call home.
The funny part is that he HAD TO KNOW he’d get spotted living in such a PUBLIC PLACE as a train station, of all places!?