Former Hopelink Employees Face Felony Charges over Bus Pass Thefts

Two former employees have been charged with felony theft after allegedly stealing and reselling more than $95,000 worth of bus passes while working at a Bellevue call center.

According to charging documents, Kimberly B. Holmes, 48, and Manuel Almagro, 30, created false client accounts and modified existing accounts in order to mail hundreds passes that were intended for Hopelink clients to addresses where Almagro would subsequently retrieve the passes and resell them for $50-100 each.

Almagro also admitted to stealing between $200 and $300 worth of gas cards, charging documents indicate.

Investigators say the crimes took place between May 2009 and March 2010, when both Holmes and Almagro were employed at a Hopelink call center located at 14812 Main St. in Bellevue. The charges were first reported earlier today by SeattlePI.com (click here for story).

Many of the passes were sent to a Renton rental property formerly owned by Almagro, according to court documents. Two of the tenants living there eventually tipped off Hopelink to the scheme by returning a package of bus passes to the nonprofit.

Almagro's employment at Hopelink was terminated in June 2009 because of attendance issues, according to charging documents, and Holmes was placed on leave in April 2010 and fired in June 2010 after an internal investigation by the Redmond-based nonprofit.

Glen Miller, spokesman for Hopelink, which is based in Redmond and also has a , said he couldn't comment on the criminal investigation but that the organization has taken preventative measures since disovering the thefts. Specifically, Miller said Hopelink has established an anonymous hotline for employee whistleblowers, strengthened its financial oversight system, and trained its transportation staff in "anti-fraud education."

“We’ve taken additional precautions to prevent that from happening in the future,” he said. 

Insurance covered Hopelink's loss from the thefts, and the stolen bus passes did not impact any of the organization's clients, Miller said.

 Arraignment for Almagro and Holmes is set for May 30.