Bayonne Executive Indicted After Allegedly Racking Up Over 7,000 Toll Violations
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
New Jersey authorities have delivered a powerful message to those who try to cheat the system, announcing an indictment against a bus company and its owner for allegedly accumulating a staggering $290,000 in unpaid tolls.
Somaya Elkaramany, 57, of Bayonne, NJ, the owner and manager of Best Big Bus LLC, is now facing multiple felony charges, including second-degree and third-degree theft of services. Her company, which runs a busy transportation service between Hudson County and New York City, is also named in the indictment.
This case, which involves over 7,000 citation violations across five different license plates, shines a spotlight on the critical issue of toll evasion and its impact on the region’s vital infrastructure.
The Scale of the Alleged Scam: Thousands of Undocumented Trips
According to Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, Elkaramany and Best Big Bus LLC allegedly incurred the nearly $300,000 debt to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) over a five-year period, spanning from October 2020 to September 2025.
The investigation, a joint effort between the NJ Division of Criminal Justice and the Port Authority Police Department, revealed a systematic pattern of non-payment across vehicles registered to both the owner and the business:
- Vehicle 1 (Best Big Bus): Nearly 3,526 violations totaling over $143,835 in unpaid tolls.
- Vehicle 2 (Best Big Bus): Over 1,542 violations resulting in more than $60,000 owed.
- Vehicle 3 (Best Big Bus): Over 1,360 violations accumulating more than $65,700 in debt.
- Personal Vehicles: Two other license plates registered to Elkaramany personally racked up thousands more in combined unpaid tolls.
“The tolls we all pay go to maintain the vital bridges, tunnels, and roads that our state depends on,” said Attorney General Platkin. “We will not tolerate anyone who tries to cheat the system.”
Serious Charges and Harsh Penalties
The severity of the financial crime has led to severe charges under New Jersey law. The second-degree theft of services charge alone carries a potential sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. The accompanying third-degree charges can add an additional three to five years.
DCJ Director Theresa L. Hilton stressed that this prosecution is about fairness: “The indictment alleges that this defendant used the system for her business but failed to pay her fair share—something we all must do.”
While Elkaramany is presumed innocent until proven guilty, this indictment sends a clear warning to commercial operators that law enforcement is aggressively cracking down on large-scale toll evasion that starves the transportation system of necessary revenue for maintenance and operation.
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