BOSTON, MA — Former Boston Police officer Thomas Nee, 67, of Yarmouth, was sentenced yesterday in connection with a scheme involving overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns sentenced Nee to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a fine of $2,000, along with $16,151 in restitution. Nee had pleaded guilty in November 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.
The charges stem from a period between February 2015 and February 2018, during which Nee submitted false and fraudulent overtime slips for shifts he did not work. The fraudulent activities involved two types of overtime shifts: “purge” and “kiosk.” The “purge” shift was a weekday assignment from 4 to 8 p.m., meant for disposing of old, unneeded evidence. However, Nee frequently left these shifts by 6 p.m. or earlier. The “kiosk” shift required collecting old prescription drugs from various police districts in Boston one Saturday a month to be incinerated. For this, Nee claimed to have worked eight and a half hours but actually worked only three to four hours.
During the three-year period, Nee fraudulently collected approximately $16,151 for overtime hours he did not work. His sentencing marks the fourth in this extensive investigation into overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. Out of the 15 officers charged, 10 have been convicted through guilty pleas or jury verdicts, four were acquitted in April 2023, and one officer passed away while charges were pending.
From 2015 through 2019, the Boston Police Department received over $10,000 annually in benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Justice, funded through various federal grants. This case highlights ongoing efforts to ensure accountability and integrity within law enforcement agencies.
