![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Untitled-September-17-2026-at-15.07.33-1024x682.png\")
Ian Choudri, CEO of California High Speed Rail, speaks during a press conference on the high-speed rail project at the Wasco Rail Yard facility in Wasco on Feb. 3, 2026. (Photo by Larry Valenzuela\/CalMatters)<\/p>\nIan Choudri, CEO of California High Speed Rail, speaks during a press conference on the high-speed rail project at the Wasco Rail Yard facility in Wasco on Feb. 3, 2026. (Photo by Larry Valenzuela\/CalMatters)<\/p>\n
This story was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n California\u2019s High Speed Rail Authority paid nearly $600,000 in unallowable travel expenses to \u201cquestionable locations that appear unrelated to state business,\u201d including trips to gyms, a nightclub, an escape room, a tiki bar and a cigar lounge over a two-year period, according to an investigation released Tuesday by the inspector general that oversees the agency.<\/p>\n The report found that the agency routinely reimbursed consultants for trips that were unauthorized or poorly justified. Some consultants flew first-class and were reimbursed without questioning, in violation of contracts and state policies. One consultant flew his private plane from Washington, D.C. to California and was reimbursed for a premium fare.<\/p>\n \u201cPaying for travel when it is not necessary or when it exceeds what is allowed by state regulations or the contract terms is waste of public funds and is behavior inconsistent with the Authority\u2019s role as the steward of public resources,\u201d the Office of the Inspector General report<\/a> reads.<\/p>\n Matt Rocco, spokesperson for the high-speed rail authority, said in a written statement that the agency \u201ctakes these findings seriously\u201d and will work with the inspector general\u2019s office to fix the issues.<\/p>\n \u201cIn response, the Authority will strengthen internal controls around consultant travel, implement more rigorous documentation and approval requirements, and recover any improper costs identified,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Voters in 2008 approved a plan to build a high-speed rail line stretching from San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2020 at a projected cost of $33 billion. Since then, its route has been significantly scaled back and the cost has ballooned to at least $126 billion. No tracks<\/a> have been laid.<\/p>\n The inspector general reviewed $1.15 million out of more than $2 million in travel reimbursements to four outside consulting firms between 2024 and 2026. The OIG said the firms are KPMG LLP, a global financial consulting firm; Nossaman LLP, a national law firm; AECOM-Fluor Joint Venture, which manages and coordinates the authority\u2019s projects, and SYSTRA\/TYPSA Joint Venture, which provides tracks and systems design.\u00a0<\/p>\n None of the firms immediately responded to CalMatters\u2019 requests for comment.<\/p>\n The report found the high-speed rail authority greenlighted at least $685,000 \u2014 roughly 60% \u2014 in payments without first approving the travel. In some cases, agency staff didn\u2019t even know about the trips until they received invoices.<\/p>\n Even for approved trips, the report found the agency failed to sufficiently vet the requests and lacked records to justify the need for the travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n The authority frequently approved expenses with vague justifications, such as \u201ctypical M-F week\u201d trips, and approved travel at the request of executives without asking why. One consultant flew to California from Denver 20 times during the two-year period to \u201cmeet with the executive team\u201d or attend executive meetings, without explaining why the meetings couldn\u2019t have been remote, the report says.\u00a0<\/p>\n One legal consultant was paid $40,800 in travel reimbursements and an additional $86,500 in \u201ctravel time\u201d for 30 trips between Denver and Sacramento in a year. The same consultant \u201cfrequently booked flights on the same day the traveling occurred,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n When questioned about whether he needed to attend the meetings in person, the consultant said the authority\u2019s chief executive, Ian Choudri, had requested his presence so he did not need to justify it and that it would not be appropriate for him to question Choudri\u2019s direction, \u201cas other consultants in other Authority offices are learning the hard way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearly $600,000 of the $1 million in travel expenses violated state travel policies or the contracts, the report found.\u00a0<\/p>\n The questionable expenses included:\u00a0<\/p>\n Premium Uber and Lyft rides to and from a restaurant, bar, and nightclub between 9:40 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. that \u201cclearly appear to be for personal enjoyment rather than for the benefit of the state;\u201d<\/p>\n Numerous meals in Folsom, where CEO Choudri has a home;\u00a0<\/p>\n Repeated reimbursed ride-hailing trips to Planet Fitness gyms in and around Sacramento, even after a supervisor wrote that \u201cthe state does not cover ride share[s] to gyms\u201d;<\/p>\n $118,000 in international travel despite the contracts explicitly barring international travel;<\/p>\n A nearly $40 Uber Black luxury car charge for a trip of less than one mile in downtown Sacramento.<\/p>\n Financial adviser KPMG was the consulting firm that billed the authority for trips to the night club, the tiki bar and the cigar lounge, Deputy Inspector General Amanda Millen told CalMatters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to remember that the critical issue here is not why the consultants visited these locations, but why (High-Speed Rail Authority) consultants included rideshare costs to these locations in their travel claims and why HSRA paid the cost of rideshares to these locations without questioning the business need for these costs,\u201d Millen said in an email.<\/p>\n The report sparked instant outrage from Assembly GOP Leader Alexandra Macedo<\/a> of Visalia, who called the spending \u201cwasteful and unallowable.<\/a>\u201d She has been a vocal critic<\/a> of the project even though Visalia sits along the planned route of the high-speed rail tracks.\u00a0<\/p>\n The investigation is the latest wrinkle in the high-speed rail authority\u2019s already troublesome history. The office of inspector general warned in a scathing July report<\/a> that the agency could run out of cash by December 2027, raising doubts about its ability to finish its planned segment connecting Merced to Bakersfield.<\/p>\n