CTA employee charged with stealing over $350,000 from the agency’s pension fund

A CTA employee has been charged with stealing more than $350,000 from the agency’s retirement fund by creating fake beneficiary information.

Ayanna Nesbitt worked as a retirement clerk handling pension payments for the CTA. She allegedly created and approved fraudulent requests for death benefit payments and refunds on pension contributions, according to the federal charges.

She then wired the money into bank accounts she either controlled or that were held by her family members, then used the funds for personal expenses for herself and others, according to the charges.

Nesbitt allegedly submitted 43 false requests for pension payments totaling nearly $357,000 from March 2019 to September 2021.

She was charged with five counts of wire fraud, according to a federal indictment made public on Friday. An arraignment was set before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly for Tuesday.

Nesbitt’s attorney declined to comment on her indictment Friday afternoon.