Boston Metropolis Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested at this time by federal brokers and is ready to be arraigned in a Boston federal courthouse later within the day, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace introduced in a press release.
Fernandes Anderson was indicted on 5 counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud and one depend of aiding and abetting theft regarding a program receiving federal funds, based on courtroom data and a publicly accessible indictment.
The councilor — who represents Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway, and a part of the South Finish — employed a employees member recognized in courtroom paperwork as “Staff Member A” in late 2022 who was associated to her “but was not an immediate family member” and agreed to provide the individual a $13,000 bonus, most of which they’d kickback to Fernandes Anderson, based on the indictment.
“At defendant Fernandes Anderson’s instructions, Fernandes Anderson and Staff Member A arranged to meet at a bathroom at City Hall where Staff Member A would hand approximately $7,000 in cash to Fernandes Anderson,” courtroom paperwork mentioned.
The 2 exchanged texts forward of the assembly and “shortly following these texts, Staff Member A handed Fernandes Anderson Approximately $7,000 in cash at a bathroom in City Hall,” courtroom paperwork mentioned.
Fernandes Anderson is paid $155,000 a 12 months as a metropolis councilor, however the feds say she was having cash issues.
The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Massachusetts plans to carry a 9:30 a.m. press convention at a federal courthouse in Boston to debate Fernandes Anderson’s arrest and federal public corruption prices.
In November 2022, Fernandes Anderson emailed a Metropolis of Boston worker to tell them of the hiring of “Staff Member A,” wherein the councilor “falsely” instructed the worker that she and Employees Member A” weren’t associated, prosecutors allege.
“For the record (redacted) is not related to me,” Fernandes Anderson wrote within the e mail, based on courtroom paperwork.
Courtroom data mentioned Fernandes Anderson was dealing with “personal financial difficulty” in early to mid-2023, together with lacking month-to-month lease and automobile funds, an impending $5,000 positive from the State Ethics Fee linked to hiring speedy members of the family, and incurring financial institution overdraft charges.
Fernandes Anderson instructed “Staff Member A” round Might 2023 that she would give the individual a “large bonus” however that the employees member “would have to give a portion of the bonus back to Fernandes Anderson,” prosecutors mentioned.
“Staff Member A agreed to the arrangement with Fernandes Anderson,” courtroom paperwork mentioned.
The town councilor instructed her employees that they’d be receiving bonuses however mentioned “Staff Member A” could be getting a bigger quantity as a result of Fernandes Anderson “wanted to pay Staff Member A for their prior volunteer work,” based on federal prosecutors.
“Fernandes Anderson did not disclose the kickback arrangement with Staff Member A,” courtroom doc mentioned.
Employees bonus data is publicly accessible, based on the courtroom paperwork.
Fernandes Anderson then despatched an e mail to a Metropolis of Boston worker to course of the $13,000 bonus cost for “Staff Member A,” which was twice as massive as the whole quantity of all bonus funds handed out to the councilor’s different employees, based on courtroom paperwork.
After the cash was deposited into the checking account of “Staff Member A,” Fernandes instructed the employees member to make separate money withdrawals of the bonus examine, prosecutors alleged in courtroom paperwork.
The employees member made two separate money withdrawals of $3,000 from two totally different financial institution areas in Boston on Might 31, 2023 and June 5, 2023, based on courtroom paperwork. The individual then withdrew $4,000 from a 3rd Boston financial institution on June 9, 2023, courtroom paperwork mentioned.
Fernandes Anderson has confronted a collection of controversies since taking workplace roughly three years in the past.
She purged $1,750 from her marketing campaign account to the state after facing marketing campaign finance violations associated to failing to report in a well timed vogue hundreds in contributions over an 11-month interval and taking in an extra contribution.
Fernandes Anderson was additionally ordered to pay marketing campaign finance regulators $5,000 final 12 months for hiring her sister and son to paid positions on her metropolis council employees.
This can be a growing story…
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