9 Current, Ex-Boston Police Officers Arrested In OT Fraud Scheme

BOSTON, MA — Nine members of the Boston Police Department are accused of collecting more tha $200,000 in overtime by forging their overtime hours at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse, US Attorney Andrew Lelling's office said.

"These officers are charged with stealing taxpayer money, year after year, through fraud," Lelling said in a statement. "Beyond the theft of funds, this kind of official misconduct also erodes trust in public institutions, at a time when that trust is most needed."

According to the indictment, the officers were assigned to the department's Evidence Control Unit, where they can earn 1.5 times their regular hourly pay in overtime. Starting in May 2016, the group routinely left their overtime shifts two or more hours early and submitted false overtime slips claiming to have worked the whole shift, according to the Department of Justice.

Of the nine officers accused, six are retired. All nine are expected in court on Wednesday. The names and amount of overtime each person received are below:

• Lieutenant Timothy Torigian, 54, of Walpole- $43,000
• Sergeant Gerard O’Brien (retired), 62, of Braintree- $25,000
• Sergeant Robert Twitchell (retired), 58, of Norton- $25,000
• Officer Henry Doherty (retired), 61, of Dorchester- $25,000
• Officer Diana Lopez (retired), 58, of Milton- $20,000
• Officer James Carnes (retired), 57, of Canton- $20,000
• Officer Michael Murphy, 60, of Hyde Park- $15,000
• Officer Ronald Nelson (retired), 60, of Jamaica Plain- $15,000
• Officer Kendra Conway, 49, of Boston- $15,000

From 2016 through 2018, the department received annual benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Justice in excess of $10,000, which were funded pursuant to numerous federal grants. Between May 2016 and February 2019 the group is accused of collectively embezzling over $200,000 in overtime pay.

One overtime shift, called "purge" overtime, was focused on reducing the inventory of the evidence warehouse. The shift was supposed to run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. When the officers worked the purge shift, the DOJ claims the warehouse was closed and locked by 6 p.m. and sometimes before that. The officers are accused of submitting false overtime slips, and their supervisors are accused of leaving shifts early and knowingly endorsing the fraudulent overtime slips of their subordinates.

Another shift, called "kiosk" overtime, was available to two officers one Saturday a month from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This shift involved collecting materials, such as unused prescription drugs, from kiosks in each police district in the city and then taking the materials to an incinerator in Saugus. The officers are accused of leaving this shift by 10 a.m. but submitting slips that said they work the full shift.

"I am a strong supporter of the police, especially in these difficult times. But all must be treated equally under the law, regardless of wealth, power or station," Lelling said.

BPD Commissioner William Gross called the indictments troubling and said they were not a reflection of the Boston Police Department as a whole, "News of these indictments send a strong message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated or ignored and can damage the trust my officers have worked so hard to build with the communities we serve."