A former Boston Housing Authority executive secretary who handled other people’s time sheets now admits she was quietly inflating her own, federal prosecutors say. Helen Murray, 41, of Malden, pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court to one count of wire fraud and is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on July 7, as per The Boston Globe.
Details of the plea
Prosecutors say Murray submitted more than 100 falsified overtime forms between January 2023 and August 2024 and ultimately collected approximately $72,131 in improper payments, according to Boston 25 News. Her guilty plea, announced by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, follows earlier charges filed in February. The wire fraud charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
How prosecutors say she did it
At the time, Murray worked as an executive secretary in the BHA’s property-management division, where she handled weekly timesheets and overtime forms for other employees. That role gave her regular access to payroll submissions. Prosecutors allege she skipped the required manager pre-approval, entered overtime hours she had not worked, forged a supervisor’s signature and then emailed the falsified forms directly to the BHA payroll office. Those internal-control details and the agency’s account of what happened were outlined by The Boston Globe.
BHA response and policy changes
The BHA says an internal review flagged the excess payments and that the agency turned its records over to Boston police and federal prosecutors. “Every dollar that BHA stewards is intended to house low-income residents, and BHA takes our responsibility to safeguard those public funds extremely seriously,” BHA spokesman Brian Jordan wrote, as reported by The Boston Globe. The Globe also reported that the authority has tightened overtime procedures and is installing a new payroll system aimed at preventing similar abuse.
Wider enforcement context
The case comes as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts has been ramping up enforcement around benefits and public-funds fraud, creating a new Benefit and Voter Fraud Team to target schemes involving SNAP, MassHealth and other taxpayer-funded programs. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley has promoted a push for stronger “guardrails” to protect those programs, according to GBH News. That broader focus helps place a housing-related payroll case like Murray’s squarely within a larger effort to shore up public-benefits integrity.
What happens next
Murray is slated to be sentenced on July 7, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani. Prosecutors say the plea agreement calls for restitution and a recommended probationary term, according to Boston 25 News. Although wire fraud theoretically carries up to two decades behind bars and substantial fines, federal judges frequently impose lesser penalties in negotiated plea cases, which is likely to be a point of contention at sentencing. The criminal plea resolves her immediate federal exposure, but the BHA may still pursue administrative or civil steps to recover money and further reinforce its payroll controls.
