Resident convicted for overtime

A former Boston Police Department sergeant was sentenced in federal court in Boston on July 18, 2024, in connection with an investigation into overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s (BPD) evidence warehouse, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

George Finch, 62, of Franklin, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin to three years’ probation, followed by six months’ home confinement. Finch was also ordered to pay $11,310 in restitution. In June 2021, Finch pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft with respect to programs receiving federal funds and one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds.

From at least March 2015 through December 2016, Finch submitted false and fraudulent overtime receipts for overtime shifts he had not worked in the evidence warehouse. The “purge” overtime was a weekday shift from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., meant to destroy old, unnecessary evidence. “Kiosk” overtime involved driving to every police precinct in Boston one Saturday a month to pick up old prescription medications that were to be incinerated.

For the “purge” shift, Finch claimed to have worked from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., but he and, allegedly, other members of the unit routinely left at 6:00 p.m. or earlier. For the “kiosk” shift, Finch turned in overtime slips claiming to have worked eight and a half hours, when in fact he and, allegedly, other members of the unit had worked only three to four hours of those shifts. As a supervisor, Finch signed off on fraudulent overtime slips submitted by the officers in the warehouse.

Between March 2015 and December 2016, Finch personally received approximately $16,151 for overtime hours he did not work.

According to a study by the American Payroll Association, misreporting work hours affects 75 percent of companies, costing them up to 7 percent of their gross annual payroll. Nearly half of employees admit to doing personal business “on work time,” and a portion admit to taking extra break time.

In the case of the Boston Police Department, more than a dozen officers have been charged so far in connection with overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department’s evidence warehouse. Finch is the fifth officer to be convicted.

The indirect involvement of federal funds made the case much more serious for those prosecuted.

From 2015 through 2019, BPD received annual payments from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Justice of more than $10,000, funded through various federal grants.

Acting U.S. Attorneys Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Ryan T. Geach, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.