A former officer of the Boston Police Department has been sentenced for his role in an overtime fraud scheme. Michael Murphy, who used to serve in the BPD's evidence warehouse, faced judgment in federal court in Boston and will now endure two years of supervised release, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
Alongside his release conditions, Murphy is required to pay a $5,000 fine and reimburse $16,014—the amount he fraudulently claimed for overtime hours he did not actually work. His scheme, which lasted from September 2016 to February 2019, involved submitting false overtime slips for two different shifts at the evidence warehouse. The 'Purge' overtime shift was designated for the disposal of outdated evidence, while the 'Kiosk' overtime shift involved collecting expired prescription drugs for incineration.
Digging deeper into the transgressions, during his 'purge' shifts, Murphy often left his post as early as 6 p.m., although claiming full hours until 8 p.m. For the kiosk shifts, which took place once a month on Saturdays, Murphy's claims to work over eight hours were contrasted by the mere three to four hours he actually spent on the job. Cumulatively, Murphy pocketed around $16,014 for the hours he never worked.
These revelations aren't isolated incidents—Murphy is in fact the sixth Boston officer sentenced in this ongoing investigation of BPD's overtime fraud. Over a dozen officers have been charged so far, with the department having received substantial annual federal grants exceeding $10,000 from 2016 through 2019, funded partially by the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Justice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Division, along with the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General's New York Field Office, spearheaded the announcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady.
