THIS STINKS, BUT NOT FOR THE REASON YOU MIGHT THINK

By Bob Walsh

 

Ian Choudri’s high-speed rail project has seen cost increases and delays. 

 

Ian Choudri is the CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.  He just put himself on administrative leave.  It seems that on February 3 the Folsom P D showed up at his house in response to an anonymous 911 call.  It seems that he and his fiancee, Lyudmyla Starostyuk, were involved in a nothingburger domestic that allegedly involved some yelling and Choudri pulling her daughter's hair.  Daughter's name and age were not specified.

Both were arrested on misdemeanor battery.  No charges were filed, neither was asked to appear in court, the cops consider the matter to be closed.  So far, so good.  Choudri put himself on admin leave on Tuesday. February 17, one day after news of the arrest became public.

The truly interesting thing is that it turns out his fiancee, Ms. Starostyuk, has recently come on board with KPMG, a financial services group that is giving advice to the HSRA.  She is now an advisory manager to the HSRA.  The company has a $24 million contract with HSRA.  

Ms. Starostyuk previously was a professor in the business school at an unnamed university in Denver.

Neither the HSRA nor Ms. Starostyuk's lawyer responded to questions from the media about possible conflicts of interest or notices about potential conflicts.

The feds are currently looking into the HSRA for possible financial irregularities.  This investigation pre-dates Choudri's arrest.