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The police were arrested on Wednesday, Sept. 2, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Massachusetts.
The officers arrested are retired and still on the force. They are:
Lt. Timothy Torigian, 54, Walpole;
Sgt. Gerard O’Brien, 62, Braintree (retired);
Sgt. Robert Twitchell, 58, Norton (retired);
Off. Henry Doherty, 61, Dorchester (retired);
Off. Diana Lopez, 58, Milton (retired);
Off. James Carnes, 57, Canton (retired);
Off. Michael Murphy, 60, Hyde Park;
Off. Ronald Nelson, 60, Jamaica Plain (retired);
Off. Kendra Conway, 49, Boston.
They are being charged in an indictment unsealed today with one count each of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds, the Attorney's Office said.
The police allegedly involved in the fraud scheme was assigned to the Boston Police Department's Evidence Control Unit where they were responsible for storing, cataloging, and retiring evidence at a warehouse. ECU officers were eligible to earn overtime pay of 1.5 times their regular hourly pay rate for overtime assignments.
Beginning in at least May 2016, the defendants allegedly routinely departed overtime shifts two or more hours early but submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips claiming to have worked the entirety of each shift.
Between May 2016 and February 2019, the officers allegedly collectively embezzled more than $200,000 in overtime pay, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Court records allege the amounts that some of the police received:
Torigian allegedly received over $43,000 for overtime hours he didn’t work;
Twitchel, O’Brien, Doherty each received $25,000;
Carnes and Lopez each received over $20,000 for overtime hours;
Murphy, Nelson, and Conway each received over $15,000 for overtime hours they did not work.
The overtime funds came from the U.S. Department of Transporation and U.S. Department of Justice grants.
The police are facing up to 10 years in prison for embezzlement and a hefty fine. The conspiracy charge has a maximum sentence of five years in prison with a fine.
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