BOSTON (WHDH) - A former Boston police captain was arrested Tuesday on charges stemming from an ongoing investigating into overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse, officials announced.
Richard Evans, 62, of Hanover, was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday 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, according to Acting Massachusetts United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell.
Evans will make an initial appearance via videoconference in federal court in Boston on Tuesday.
“The public counts on police supervisors to lead by example and serve as models of honor, integrity and professionalism,” 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 BPD’s Evidence Control Unit, which was responsible for, among other things, storing, cataloging, and retrieving evidence at the warehouse. ECU officers were eligible to earn overtime pay of 1.5 times their regular hourly pay rate for overtime assignments.
Prosecutors allege that beginning in at least March 2015, Evans and other officers 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.
In addition to routinely submitting false and fraudulent overtime slips, Evans also allegedly endorsed the fraudulent overtime slips of his subordinates.
From March 2015 to February 2019, Evans and his co-conspirators allegedly collected tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent overtime. Evans allegedly received over $12,395 for overtime hours he did not work and endorsed dozens of fraudulent overtime slips submitted by subordinates.
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