Boston After being charged with planning a kickback scheme to embezzle public funds, Tania Fernandes Anderson, a Boston city councilor representing District 7, was taken into custody by federal officials on Thursday. According to the indictment, Fernandes Anderson allegedly gave a staff member public funds in return for thousands of dollars in cash kickbacks.
Fernandes Anderson, 45, is charged with five counts of helping and abetting wire fraud and one count of aiding and abetting theft pertaining to programs that receive government funding, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She was arrested early Thursday and is expected to appear at 2:15 p.m. in federal court in Boston.
U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy stated in a statement that City Councilor Fernandes Anderson breached her fiduciary duties as a public servant and betrayed the trust of her voters by allegedly planning a plot to divert public funds into her personal pocket.
According to federal investigators, Fernandes Anderson, a municipal councilor who receives $115,000 a year, conspired to pay a staff member an unheard-of $13,000 bonus in May 2023. The bonus was more than double what all of her other employees received in bonus payments. During a meeting in a restroom at City Hall, Fernandes Anderson allegedly instructed the employee to take out the money in several payments before giving her $7,000 in cash.
The recruiting methods of Fernandes Anderson are also the source of the charges. She allegedly broke Massachusetts state law by hiring two members of her immediate family as salaried employees in 2022. Fernandes Anderson is accused of hiring a different cousin under false pretenses after being compelled to resign from their position and of lying about their relationship in public correspondence with city personnel.
Federal officials emphasized how blatant the alleged plot was. Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, stated that it is illegal to use public office for private benefit. As alleged, her actions are a smack in the face to Boston’s hardworking taxpayers.
In November 2021, Fernandes Anderson was elected to the city council for the first time, and in 2023, he was elected again. She is the representative for District 7, which encompasses portions of the South End, Roxbury, Dorchester, and Fenway. The indictment describes Fernandes Anderson’s financial struggles in 2023, which included a $5,000 civil penalty from the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission.
According to the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, Fernandes Anderson’s case is a component of a larger initiative to fight governmental corruption. Jonathan Wlodyka, acting special agent in charge of the IRS Boston office, stated that elected officials are held to a higher standard.
The arrest of Fernandes Anderson is the most recent corruption scandal to rock Boston politics, igniting new worries about the oversight of public servants.
Fernandes Anderson is accused by federal officials of abusing her position of trust in order to profit herself at the expense of Boston taxpayers.
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