BATON ROUGE — The head of the Baton Rouge area's bus system said Monday he was disappointed by alleged misconduct that led to the indictment of several people, including a Metro Council member.

CATS chief executive Theo Richards said he would take the opportunity to "correct the missteps of the past and move forward."

Prosecutors say certain vendors who had contracts with the Capital Area Transit System in 2021 and 2022 benefited improperly. Richards said that since 2022, CATS has instituted "several safeguards" to ensure the bus system is following ethical business practices and restoring public trust.

"In 2024, the Board of Commissioners approved a policy limiting the contract authority exercised by the executive office. In addition, we are actively conducting an internal audit of our procurement procedures to ensure that all policies and controls are being followed at every step of the process," Richards said.

Metro Council member Cleve Dunn has been accused of bribery and money laundering, along with malfeasance, public contract fraud and illegal split commission of commodities. He also faces conspiracy counts.

According to documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit, agents with the Louisiana Department of Justice said Dunn abused his elected position of power to secure a $50,000 contract with CATS.

Dunn, mentioned in the indictments of former Capital Area Transit System Chief Administrator Pearlina Thomas and CATS contractor Jay Colar, allegedly introduced Colar to Thomas, used his influence as a council member to issue a contract to Supreme Solutions and profited through kickbacks from the purported owner of that company, Jay Colar.

While Colar is listed as the current owner of Supreme Solutions, records indicate Dunn and his wife previously owned the company. Agents, however, allege Colar never had control of the bank account for the company.

In addition, documents obtained by the WBRZ Investigative Unit say the company was paid $50,000, at least $33,000 of which was converted to checks made out to “C.G." Agents have confirmed what WBRZ has reported: “C.G.” is Core Group LLC, a company registered to Dunn.