A worker at Orlando International Airport was arrested Thursday, accused of accepting bribes in exchange for allowing illegal taxis to pick up passengers.
When confronted by police, Felix Garcia Madera, a 50-year-old traffic specialist at the airport, admitted he worked with four to six unlicensed taxi drivers and was paid $10 per trip to allow them to solicit unsuspecting passengers for rides, an arrest report said.
In a statement, Greater Orlando Aviation Authority spokesman Rod Johnson said the agency is working with the Orlando Police Department in its investigation of Garcia Madera.
“Since this is an active, ongoing police investigation we cannot comment further at this time,” Johnson said. “This is however a prime example of our partnership with law enforcement and continuous monitoring activities taking place at Orlando International Airport.”
Garcia Madera had worked for GOAA since April 30, 2018, and has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation, Johnson said.
His arrest came after Sgt. William C. Becton, an OPD officer working at the airport, received anonymous tips indicating employees in GOAA’s Traffic Enforcement section were taking bribes from illegal taxi operators.
On Dec. 20 around 11 p.m., Becton saw a black Mercedes pull up outside terminal B. After its window rolled down, Garcia Madera leaned in briefly before leaving, the officer said.
The Mercedes was breaking airport traffic rules by parking in a no-parking, no-standing, no-idling area. Then, as the officer watched, its driver tried to solicit a passenger for a ride. The officer stopped the car and issued its driver a notice to appear in court for violating city ordinance.
Becton then asked to see the Cash App application on driver’s phone.
The app showed about eight transactions between the driver and a “Felix Garcia,” whose photo in the app looked like Garcia Madera.
Police got a warrant to search Garcia Madera’s phone days later and interviewed him Monday night.
He confessed to taking bribes and said he’d been doing so since about six months ago, when he was approached by an unlicensed taxi driver who offered him money in exchange for being allowed to park and pick up passengers, according to the arrest report.
Garcia Madera said he agreed because he was “hurting for cash,” the report says.
“Madera confessed to knowing his actions were illegal,” Becton wrote. “He said that his supervisors told him all the time during briefings that he was not allowed to take money from unlicensed taxi drivers.”
Garcia Madera faces charges of bribery by a public servant, receiving unlawful compensation for official behavior, unlawful use of a communication device and cheating, all felonies. He was booked into the Orange County Jail and remained there Friday afternoon.
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