Crime

Man who oversaw BPS bus fleet arrested on bribery charges

Michael Muller allegedly accepted more than $870,000 in bribes and kickbacks between 2010 and 2021.

A Boston Public Schools bus. David L. Ryan/Boston Globe

November 14, 2025

4 minutes to read

Two men, including one who formerly managed the fleet of school buses used by Boston Public Schools, were arrested Friday on bribery charges.

Michael Muller, 59, of Millbury, and John Colantuoni, 60, of Westwood, were identified as the defendants by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office.

Muller was employed by a transportation company that had a contract with BPS to manage the operations and maintenance of the more than 700 school buses used by the district. Buses were kept in yards owned by the city, and Muller supervised all the employees of the transportation company who worked in the yards, according to prosecutors.

The transportation company was not identified in the court documents. BPS has contracted with Transdev, an $11 billion international company, since 2013. Multiple LinkedIn profiles with Muller’s name list Transdev as his employer, and the company confirmed that he was an employee until 2022.

The transportation company used various vendors to clean buses, make repairs, and remove snow from the yards. Muller managed all these vendors and had the power to fire them, according to prosecutors. The vendors gave their invoices to the transportation company, which then forwarded them to BPS. The district paid the invoice amounts to the transportation company using taxpayer dollars, and the transportation company then mailed checks to the vendors.

Muller allegedly solicited and accepted more than $870,000 in bribes and kickbacks from five vendors, including Colantuoni, between 2010 and 2021. Muller received cash, checks, a used pickup truck worth $15,000, and $85,000 in building materials for a vacation home, according to Foley’s office. He also allegedly forced a vendor to hire his adult child.

“When BPS became aware of the allegations in 2022, the district immediately contacted law enforcement, ensured Muller’s firing, and has fully cooperated with the investigation ever since. The new bus contract, signed in 2023, requires greater transparency and stronger oversight of payments for maintenance and facilities related work. BPS will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement to ensure individuals who have betrayed the public trust are held fully accountable,” a BPS spokesperson said in a statement.

In a statement, Transdev said that it could not comment on the details of the investigation but confirmed that it was aware of it and cooperated fully. Muller has not been employed by Transdev since February 22, 2022, the company said.

“Transdev will continue to review the details of today’s indictment and will aggressively take action against anyone who may have been involved in this organized effort to steal from the people of Boston,” the company said.

Officials described some of the alleged interactions between Muller and a vendor who was hired to power-wash BPS buses. Muller conspired to have this vendor inflate their invoices by claiming to have washed more buses than they actually had. Muller told the vendor to pay him part of their total revenues from the transportation company as a kickback, prosecutors said.

They said that Muller “hounded” the vendor as soon as the transportation company mailed the check to the vendor, wanting to meet and collect his cut. Officials included the following excerpts from alleged text messages between Muller and the vendor:

Muller: “Did the eagle land?” Vendor Two: “Not there yesterday. Will see on Monday.”
Vendor Two: “Check did not clear. You got $2,500 last week. $5,000 this week. $500 more next week. $8,000 total….” Muller: “Just add to engine u owe for February.”
Muller: “What time we meeting and were [sic]? We can meet on pike at rest stop if that works. Also are u giving my whole half or half of what you have? I have today off and want to do some shopping so sooner would be great.” Vendor Two: “Bank opens @9 am. Rest area @ Natick.”

Prosecutors say Muller had with another vendor invoice the transportation company $189,444 for snow-clearing work that was never performed, and he allegedly pocketed most of this money.

“Families and taxpayers trust that the people overseeing their children’s school buses are doing the right thing, not looking for a payout. As alleged, these defendants broke that trust — treating taxpayer-funded contracts as a source of illicit income and, for years, siphoning off money that should have supported students,” Foley said in a statement.

Colantuoni was the co-owner of a small construction and landscaping company in Norwood. His company allegedly bought about $85,000 in building materials from a lumber company for Muller’s vacation home in Rhode Island. At the same time, the amount of money being paid to Colantuoni’s company from the transportation company “increased dramatically.” Muller allegedly tried to hide the business relationship with Colantuoni by telling the lumber company that Colantuoni was his uncle. In turn, Colantuoni worked to keep Muller’s address off the lumber company’s invoices, at one point using a false address in Falmouth, according to Foley’s office.

Muller faces five counts of soliciting and accepting bribes as an agent of BPS, five counts of conspiring to commit bribery, five counts of conspiring to commit honest services mail fraud, and four counts of extortion. Colantuoni faces one count of paying bribes to Muller, one count of conspiring to commit bribery, one count of conspiring to commit honest services mail fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice.

Muller was scheduled to make an appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday afternoon. Colantuoni, who was arrested in Florida, was expected to appear in federal court in Tampa and appear in Boston at a later date.

“These two men stand accused of padding their income with ease, turning a tidy profit at the expense of taxpayers. Add in the allegations of extortion and obstruction of justice and you’ve practically got a playbook of the varied ways to violate the public’s trust,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division Ted Docks said in a statement.