Digital Forensics Dispatch

Cellphone Records and Digital Evidence Pivotal in Boston Police Pay Fraud Investigation

June 22, 2021

According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, federal prosecutors have recently charged 13 individuals in an ongoing investigation into an alleged overtime pay fraud scheme in the Boston City Police department. The prosecutor’s office has reportedly been using cellphone data and the results of digital forensic analysis of the department’s attendance and pay records to further their investigation. The cellphone data in use includes cell site tower records that allow investigators to map where a person’s device was located at the specific time it connected to different network towers.

Up to this point at least 13 officers, both current and former, have been implicated in a scheme that goes back over an apparent 5 year period. In total it is thought that over $250,000 of fraudulent overtime pay was collected by those officers, all from the evidence unit. An additional five officers were included in court documents reviewed by the Globe; however, none had been charged at the time of the report. The amounts allegedly collected varied from officer to officer with at least one thought to have collected over $11,000 in unearned pay.  

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