Well after dark one night last September, a highly paid consultant for the California High-Speed Rail Authority expensed a Lyft ride that pulled up outside the agency CEO's home in Folsom, California.
asserted
that → pay → Folsom
Just before midnight, another highly paid consultant expensed a Lyft ride from the same house back to his Sacramento hotel.
asserted
consultant → pay → hotel
The first was Denver attorney Brent Butzin, who CBS California has independently confirmed is the legal-services consultant referenced in the High-Speed Rail inspector general's recent investigation.
asserted
California → confirm → investigation
The second was Thierry Prate, a managing director at KPMG, the financial adviser examined in the same report.
asserted
second → manage → report
Both submitted the rides as expenses associated with California's multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project.
And it wasn't the only late-night ride from the High-Speed Rail CEO's home.
asserted
it → submit → home
Why were taxpayers billed for late-night rides from the CEO's home?
asserted
taxpayers → bill → home
After California's independent High-Speed Rail inspector general found widespread failures in consultant travel oversight, whistleblowers provided CBS California Investigates with some of the underlying expense records.
asserted
whistleblowers → find → records
We reviewed nearly 6,000 pages of invoices and expense claims that KPMG and the law firm Nossaman submitted to the authority for work from September 2024 through January 2026.
uncertain
KPMG → review → January
Among the receipts from two consultants, KPMG's Thierry Prate and Nossaman's Brent Butzin, we found a dozen rides between August 2025 and January 2026 to or from the small residential street in Folsom where High-Speed Rail CEO Ian Choudri owns a home.
asserted
Choudri → find → home
Another dozen rides, between September 2024 and August 2025, went to or from nearby Folsom restaurants and bars.
asserted
rides → go → restaurants
Many rides involved late-night or early-morning pickups, including two after 1 a.m.
The receipts don't establish who was at the residence, what business took place or whether Choudri was present.
asserted
Choudri → involve → place
His wife also works for KPMG.
asserted
wife → work → KPMG
But the receipts reveal previously undisclosed connections between consultants' travel expenses and the CEO's private residence.
asserted
receipts → reveal → expenses
And they raise questions about who approved that spending.
asserted
who → raise → spending
The questions come as California's high-speed rail project continues to spend billions, nearly two decades after voters approved a bullet train connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles.
asserted
voters → come → Francisco
The state has spent billions, but
.
asserted
state → spend → billions
It after missing key deadlines, and its .Meanwhile, the authority paid just four consulting contractors more than a quarter of a billion dollars over two fiscal years.
asserted
authority → miss → years
Sources inside the High-Speed Rail Authority say the inspector general's findings point to something much bigger than questionable travel expenses.
asserted
findings → say → expenses
Who holds influence over this multibillion-dollar public project?
asserted
Who → hold → project
Who makes the decisions? And who's accountable when those decisions cost taxpayers money?
'Related to work with Ian'
One internal email provides a partial explanation for one of the visits.
asserted
email → make → visits
When the High-Speed Rail Authority questioned KPMG, the firm described one of Prate's rides to the CEO's residence as "related to work with Ian."
asserted
firm → question → Ian
On that evening, Prate's Lyft arrived at the Folsom home shortly after 7:30 p.m.
asserted
Lyft → arrive → p.m.
His next documented ride departed the same address after 1 a.m.
A late-night business meeting isn't necessarily inappropriate.
asserted
meeting → document → a.m.
Neither is visiting an executive's home.
asserted
Neither → visit → home
But the records don't explain what specific work required repeated rides to the CEO's residence, who was there or how the authority determined the transportation was an appropriate business expense.
asserted
transportation → explain → residence
Those details matter because California's travel rules require more than a receipt.
asserted
rules → matter → receipt
They require a legitimate business purpose.
asserted
They → require → purpose
And the inspector general found that the High-Speed Rail Authority repeatedly failed to document whether consultant travel met that standard.
asserted
travel → find → standard
The receipts also document a food delivery to the same residence.
asserted
receipts → document → residence
One January evening, shortly after 9:30 p.m., an Uber Eats driver delivered a $94.39 order from a Folsom pizza restaurant to Choudri's home.
asserted
driver → deliver → home
The receipt was in Prate's name, paid for on his KPMG corporate card.
asserted
receipt → pay → card
Just before midnight, another Lyft expense by Prate departed the address for his downtown Sacramento hotel.
asserted
expense → depart → hotel
The High-Speed Rail Authority disputed the food delivery, and records show the consultant accepted the dispute.
asserted
consultant → dispute → dispute
Taxpayers ultimately didn't pay for the pizza.
asserted
Taxpayers → pay → pizza
The receipts also don't identify who ate the food or who was at the house.
But they reinforce the central question about the travel expenses.
asserted
they → identify → expenses
What state business justifies repeatedly charging the project for transportation to and from the CEO's private home?
asserted
business → justify → home
The paperwork says Sacramento.
asserted
paperwork → say → Sacramento
The receipts show Folsom.
asserted
receipts → show → Folsom
Other travel records show consultants taking rides between their Sacramento hotels and restaurants and bars near the CEO's home, roughly 30 minutes away.
asserted
consultants → show → home
All of the destinations were in the same shopping center as the Land Ocean Steak House that the CEO frequents, according to multiple sources.
uncertain
CEO → frequent → sources
…and 93 more, not listed.
The Aporia
