California high-speed rail consultants billed for late-night rides tied to CEO's Folsom home

Mixed · 2CBS California Investigates reported that two consultants for the California High-Speed Rail Authority expensed a dozen rideshare trips between August 2025 and January 2026 to or from the Folsom street where authority CEO Ian Choudri owns a home. 1 2 Mixed · 2The consultants were Brent Butzin, a Denver attorney with the law firm Nossaman, and Thierry Prate, a managing director at KPMG, the authority's financial adviser. Another dozen rides, between September 2024 and August 2025, went to or from Folsom restaurants and bars near the CEO's home, in the same shopping center as the Land Ocean Steak House, which the CEO frequents according to CBS's sources. 1 2 Left · 1CBS said whistleblowers gave it some of the underlying records, and that it reviewed nearly 6,000 pages of KPMG and Nossaman invoices and expense claims covering September 2024 to January 2026. Many rides were late at night or early in the morning, including two after 1 a.m. 1

Left · 1The receipts do not establish who was at the residence, what business took place or whether Choudri was present. CBS noted that Choudri's wife also works for KPMG. 1 Mixed · 2When the authority questioned KPMG, the firm described one of Prate's rides to the residence as "related to work with Ian." Prate's Lyft arrived shortly after 7:30 p.m. that evening, and his next documented ride left the address after 1 a.m. 1 2 Mixed · 2The receipts also show a $94.39 pizza delivery to the home in January, billed on Prate's KPMG corporate card. The authority disputed it, the consultant accepted the dispute, and taxpayers did not pay for it. 1 2

Left · 1CBS also found that five of Butzin's travel forms gave the purpose as "Meetings at CHSRA in Sacramento" while the attached receipts showed travel to Folsom restaurants and other locations. Their business-entertainment sections were blank. CBS said this does not show the visits were personal. 1 Mixed · 2The reporting builds on a September 2026 report by the project's inspector general, which examined about $1.15 million in travel expenses under four consulting contracts, according to CBS, and identified nearly $600,000 as unallowable under state regulations, contract terms or both. The New York Post put the figure at $592,900 and described the audit as covering $2 million in travel expenses from four contractors: Nossaman, KPMG, the AECOM-Fluor joint venture and the SYSTRA/TYPSA joint venture. 1 2 Mixed · 2The inspector general found the authority often could not show it had assessed the business need or cost of trips before approving them. In a separate set of expenses involving another consultant, it identified late-night rides to restaurants, bars and a nightclub that "clearly appear to be for personal enjoyment." CBS said that finding did not specifically concern the Folsom rides. The Post said the audit also flagged rides to tiki bars and an "escape room" and first-class flight upgrades. 1 2

Mixed · 2According to an email excerpt in the inspector general's report, a Denver-based legal consultant, whom CBS identified as Butzin, pushed back when a contract manager asked him to explain his trips, arguing that the CEO had requested his presence. The contract manager told investigators she was directed, primarily by the acting chief counsel, to approve the travel because the CEO had asked for it, and the inspector general concluded the CEO lacked authority to override the contract's travel requirements. 1 2 Right · 1At a Friday meeting of the authority's Board of Directors, Choudri and other staff discussed the audit. Board members, including Newsom appointees Steve Kawa and Jason Elliott, voiced exasperation; Elliott, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor, said, "You can't fly first class when you're on state travel, you don't take an Uber black SUV." 2 Right · 1Spokesperson Daniela Contreras said the authority is reinforcing its travel approval and reimbursement processes so that only pre-approved travel within contract scope and consistent with state regulations is reimbursed. The Post said the statement did not directly address the unexplained trips, and that staff vowed to recover the misspent money. 2

Mixed · 2Both outlets set the story against the project's record. CBS said the state has spent billions without laying a mile of track, lost $4 billion in federal funding after missing deadlines, and could run out of money by the end of 2027, according to its independent watchdog. The Post cited one estimate of $231 billion for total cost, against $126.3 billion in the authority's updated business plan. 1 2