Former Boston police captain indicted in alleged overtime fraud scheme
Prosecutors allege Richard Evans, 62, of Hanover, collected more than $12,395 for overtime he did not work.
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A former Boston police captain was arrested in connection to an alleged overtime fraud scheme involving at least nine other department members and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Richard Evans, 62, of Hanover, was charged in an indictment unsealed on Tuesday, in which prosecutors allege he collected over $12,395 for time he did not work over a nearly four year period, according to the Massachusetts U.S. attorney’s office.
“The public counts on police supervisors to lead by example and serve as models of honor, integrity and professionalism,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell said in a statement. “When they break the law for personal financial gain with the officers they supervise, they not only violate the trust of the public, but they dishonor their fellow officers. I want to thank the Boston Police Department for its continued cooperation with our investigation.”
Evans oversaw the department’s Evidence Control Unit, where officers catalog and store evidence seized by police, according to officials.
Prosecutors say Evans and others at the warehouse, from at least March 2015 until February 2019, regularly left their overtime shifts two or more hours early but still submitted overtime slips claiming they worked the full shifts.
One such shift — known as “purge” overtime, when the department worked to reduce warehouse inventory — was between 4 and 8 p.m. on weekdays, Mendell’s office said.
“On days which Evans claimed to have worked until 8:00 p.m., the warehouse was closed, locked and alarmed well before 8:00 p.m., and often by 6:00 p.m. or earlier,” prosecutors said in a press release. “Despite this, it is alleged that Evans routinely submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips claiming to have worked from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Evans also endorsed the fraudulent overtime slips of his subordinates.”
Acting Mayor Kim Janey called the charges against Evans “disturbing.”
“Captain Evans oversaw the critically important Evidence Control Unit, making these charges even more troubling,” Janey said while delivering written remarks at a press conference on the city’s COVID-19 response Tuesday morning. “Any fraud is unacceptable. It breaks public trust. It dishonors the thousands of officers who serve our communities every day with honesty, integrity, and bravery.
“I am committed to uncovering and rooting out behavior among officers that is inconsistent with our community values,” Janey continued. “We will continue to work collaboratively to implement community-driven police reforms, and I am committed to ensuring the people of Boston can have full confidence in their police force.”
Evans was slated to appear in federal court in Boston via videoconference later on Tuesday. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds; one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and three counts of wire fraud.
“Former Captain Evans allegedly conspired to commit theft and defraud taxpayers,” Russell W. Cunningham, special agent in charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Washington Field Office, said in a statement. “The alleged conduct is antithetical to the job we trust law enforcement officers to do – uphold the law and act with honesty and integrity.”
Prosecutors announced in September charges against nine officers involved in the alleged scheme, who collectively embezzled over $200,000 in fraudulent overtime pay between May 2016 and February 2019. Six of the officers were retired at the time of their arrest.
In January, a former department clerk was charged in a separate scheme; she allegedly made nearly $30,000 in overtime pay in two years through forging her supervisors’ signatures.
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