TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity & Accountability (OPIA) today announced the filing of criminal charges against a NJ Transit employee who allegedly engaged in a years-long scheme to sell phones purchased with NJ Transit funds for personal profit, unlawfully earning hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Peejay Manila, 37, of Hackensack, New Jersey, whose employment with New Jersey Transit dates back to December 2019, has been charged with two counts of theft (2nd and 3rd degree) and receiving stolen property (3rd degree). As alleged in the complaint, the defendant surreptitiously sold NJ Transit-owned iPhones to cellphone buy-back companies, after he purchased them using NJ Transit funds that were authorized only for official purposes.

The charges arise out of an investigation conducted by the OPIA Corruption Bureau. These charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

“As alleged, the defendant misused his authority to spend the public’s money, betraying his employer, his coworkers, and the people who ride NJ Transit, for personal gain,” said Attorney General Platkin. “My office is committed to holding accountable those who would abuse the public’s trust and use public resources to line their own pockets.”

“These devices were owned by a State agency, purchased using fare proceeds and tax dollars,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of OPIA. “As alleged in the complaint, instead of being used for the public’s benefit, the defendant sold them for personal gain.”

Based on information learned during the investigation, from approximately November 2020 through September 2024, the defendant sold approximately 850 phones and other electronic devices to a cellphone trade-in company that allows individuals to ship phones to the company in exchange for payments.

It is alleged that a majority of the devices that the defendant had sold to this trade-in company had been purchased by New Jersey Transit from a cellphone provider.

The investigation revealed the defendant received a combined total of more than $700,000 in payments for the sale of those devices. The defendant was authorized to purchase cellphones on behalf of New Jersey Transit, using agency funds, for use by employees and personnel in connection with their employment.

From approximately November 2024 through April 2025, the defendant allegedly sold cellphones and other electronic devices to additional buy-back companies and received additional payments.

Law enforcement executed search warrants on May 8, 2025, at the defendant’s apartment, at his office, and his vehicle. According to documents filed in the case, police found, among other items, approximately 20 cellphones, 11 of which were new and in unopened boxes, in a closet at the defendant’s residence.

Nine of them were wrapped in bubble wrap in a box, which had an address label on it indicating it was about to be sent to a cellphone buy-back company. As alleged, the majority of the phones seized from the defendant’s residence were confirmed to have been ordered by the defendant through his employment with New Jersey Transit.

Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Deputy Attorneys General Rich Bobbe and Krysta Chotkowski are prosecuting the case for OPIA, under the supervision of Corruption Bureau Interim Deputy Bureau Chief Amanda Nini, Bureau Co-Directors Jeff Manis and Eric Gibson, and OPIA Director Skinner.

Defense counsel
Unknown at this time

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