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Feds: Former Quincy city official embezzled funds for steak tips, recording studio, framed self-portrait
Thomas Clasby Jr. served as the director of Quincy’s Department of Elder Services beginning in 1999.
A former Quincy official is facing federal embezzlement charges after he allegedly used city money as his “own personal slush fund,” including thousands for steak tips and music studio time, federal prosecutors said.
Thomas F. Clasby, Jr., 60, appeared in federal court Wednesday after he was indicted on charges of embezzlement, mail and wire fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property, U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a news release.
Clasby, of Fitchburg, served as the director of Quincy’s Department of Elder Services since 1999, according to charging documents. He was fired in April of last year by Mayor Thomas Koch, who cited “financial irregularities” and an ongoing Quincy police investigation, The Patriot Ledger reported at the time.
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Clasby used city funds for a variety of personal expenses, including $8,950 to a music studio for songs of Clasby singing for his wife and friends, $2,236 for 153 pounds of bourbon steak tips, $4,800 for a Toyota Prius, and $1,658 for a framed self-portrait, prosecutors said.
He allegedly used city funds to pay for custom clothing, a cleaning invoice, car repairs, towing services, an electric fryer, and reupholstering a loveseat, all personal expenses. The longtime city official is also accused of fraudulently paying his friend’s New York consulting company $38,000 with city funds, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said he would falsify invoices for his personal expenses. He also is accused of stealing the “vast majority” of cash receipts generated by Elder Services at the city’s Kennedy Center starting in June of 2021.
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“Thomas Clasby’s alleged betrayal of trust is not just a theft from the City of Quincy but an affront to the seniors he was sworn to serve and the taxpayers who funded these programs,” Levy said in a statement.
The embezzlement charge and the interstate transportation of stolen property charge against Clasby could separately result in up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Mail and wire fraud carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, according to prosecutors.
When contacted, Clasby’s federal public defender declined to comment on the allegations.
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