NEWARK - Two school district employees were suspended without pay for receiving thousands of dollars for overtime they never worked, school officials said Thursday. Juan Gonzalez, a supervisor in the Department of Motor Transportation, and Francis Muniz, a senior mechanic in the division, were suspended without pay on Wednesday following an investigation of several months.

Gonzalez and Muniz were helping each other to punch their timecards for overtime hours they never worked, said Peter Henderson, chief investigator for the school district's Office of Investigations.

"These two individuals were getting paid for services that were not being rendered to this school district," Henderson said. "They were not on the job site, they were not on the work site on various occasions."

The district began the investigation after receiving a tip several months ago, henderson said, and suspended the employees after months of surveillance and checking of timecards.

In some cases Henderson said, other employees in the department of approximately 25 people punched timecards for Gonzalez and Muniz.

The matter was referred to the Attorney General's Office, and the investigation will continue, he said.

The Department of Motor Transportation maintains administrative school vehicles.