Ian Choudri, chief executive officer of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, speaks during a special board meeting at the California Natural Resources Agency in Sacramento on Oct. 9, 2026. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters
The board that oversees the California High-Speed Rail Authority voted last week to rein in Chief Executive Ian Choudri’s contracting authority following a state investigation that showed consultants billed the agency $600,000 in questionable travel expenses.
The investigation by the office of inspector general for the high-speed rail project found that some consultants flew first class, hailed luxury rides and traveled to a night club, a cigar lounge and numerous restaurants, bars and residences, sometimes after hours, on taxpayers’ dime.
Investigators looked at travel expenses submitted by four consulting firms over a two-year period and found that most of the trips were unauthorized, poorly justified — at times at the agency’s top executives’ request — and that agency staff failed to sufficiently vet the requests before approving them. In some cases, agency staff didn’t even know about the trips until they received invoices.
The board on Friday voted 7-2 to strip Choudri of his sole authority to sign and manage contracts under $25 million…
