#Alleged overtime cheat resigns from MTA amid federal charges

The high-earning subway worker arrested for overtime fraud last week resigned from the MTA on Wednesday, sources confirmed.

Michael Gundersen, 42, of Manalapan Township, New Jersey, was on the clock earning thousands of dollars while enjoying concerts in Atlantic City and out-of-state family vacations, the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office said on Dec. 3.

Gundersen reaped a whopping $385,000 in 2018, prosecutors said — including $283,000 from 3,914 overtime hours, the equivalent of an improbable 10 hours of OT per day for an entire year.

On top of vacations to Atlantic City, New York’s Hudson Valley and Williamsburg, Virginia, investigators caught Gunderson collecting pay while running a 5K race and lounging at his family’s farm, court docs alleged.

The subway maintenance work was one of five MTA high-rollers cuffed last Thursday for raking in annual OT payments of $240,000 or more based on fraudulent work hours.

The other four men are all current or former employees of the Long Island Rail Road. Of the five, Gundersen, John Nugent, 50, and Joseph Balestra, 51, were all still on the MTA’s payroll at the time of their arrests.

Gundersen, who was released on $100,000 bail, faces 10 years in prison if convicted.

Neither his attorney nor the MTA returned requests for comment.