Tuesday, February 15th 2011, 12:43 PM

 Richards/GettyMichael Arato, a TSA agent at Newark airport, pleaded guilty to stealing from passengers

 and accepting kickbacks from a subordinate who did the same.

Facebook

Prosecutors said Michael Arato and the subordinate, who was not named, targeted foreigners leaving the U.S. and stole money and valuables from their bags during secondary searches.

A Transportation Security Administration officer pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars in cash and other valuables from unsuspecting travelers, mostly non-English speakers, during security screenings at Newark airport.

Michael Arato, 41, also admitted on Monday to taking kickbacks from a subordinate officer, who stole between $10,000 and $30,000 over the course of a year while Arato agreed to look the other way. 

The crooked TSA supervisor was busted last fall after the subordinate, who was not named, worked with authorities to videotape him taking his cut during a three-week period, from Sept. 13 to Oct. 5, authorities said.

Arato also admitted stealing from passengers at his own checkpoint at Newark airport's Terminal B.

Prosecutors said the two agents often targeted foreigners and subjected them to additional screening, during which time they would pocket cash found in their carry-on bags.

According to prosecutor Paul Fishman, the supervisor pocketed between $400 and $700 from passengers on a given shift. He also accepted about $3,100 in bribes during the three-week period he was being observed.

The two agents often stashed stolen cash in the drawers of x-ray machines at the checkpoints or hid it the lost and found before retrieving it later, prosecutors said. 

Arato was caught on tape explaining his action by saying that the travelers were leaving the country with "our money," ABC reported. 

In one video recording, Arato was seen taking his cut and then giving "the middle finger to the office security camera," according to the complaint.

"Arato literally made a game of stealing hundreds of dollars a day from individuals standing in the security lane," Fishman said in a statement after Arato was busted. "That he targeted them based on their inability to speak English is especially offensive."

According to the original complaint, authorities became suspicious after receiving several complaints from passengers on Air India's daily nonstop flight to India that money and valuables from their carry-on bags had gone missing after TSA employees at Arato's checkpoint had searched them by hand.

The victims were mostly women of Indian decent who did not speak English, the complaint said.

Arato faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced on May 24.

With News Wire Services

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_tsa_agent_michael_arato_pleads_guilty_to_stealing_from_passengers_taking_bribes_.html#ixzz1E9HnTBTg