BOSTON (AP) – A retired MBTA electrician allegedly stole more than $40,000 in coins and tokens and stashed them in plastic containers in his basement, authorities said Monday.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said its security cameras caught Robert Gibson, 69, feeding tokens into fare vending machines and obtaining CharlieCards in January at the Wellington Station in Medford.

Transit police claim that Gibson, of Revere, redeemed several thousand tokens in exchange for more than 45 CharlieCards, with maximum values of $100 each.

Gibson worked 20 years for the T as an electrician who repaired fare vending and collection equipment, authorities said. He retired in October.

Transit police charged Gibson with larceny by scheme. Gibson is to be arraigned March 21 in Boston Municipal Court.

A call to Gibson’s home was not immediately returned Monday.

The MBTA alleged that Gibson, when questioned, directed investigators to his basement, where coins and tokens were concealed in 5-gallon plastic drums. They removed 17 of the containers from Gibson’s basement, the T said in an announcement.

The T used metal tokens for nearly 90 years, and switched to an automated fare system in December. The CharlieCard is the new credit-card style fare card.

Transit officials say their high-tech digital security cameras have helped solve about a dozen crimes. The T has installed about 450 of the cameras since 2002, funded in part by $23 million in federal homeland security grants. The agency is scheduled to install another 50 by the spring.