BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Attorney General Maura Healey and Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha announced that two former Massachusetts State Police troopers have agreed to pay for overtime that they allegedly did not work.
Kevin O'Brien and Robert Freniere have agreed to pay a combined total of $110,000 for the overtime fraud.
The two were members of MSP's now disbanded Troop E, which patrolled the Massachusetts Turnpike. According to documents filed in Suffolk Superior Court, attorneys allege that the former troopers submitted timecards between 2015 and 2017 for overtime they did not work.
The allegations arose after an MSP investigation of overtime abuse within Troop E. The investigation found that multiple members reported working overtime hours they actually did not.
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Officials said the purpose of the overtime shifts was to reduce accidents, crashes and injuries on state highways.
According to the complaint, Trooper O'Brien allegedly submitted timecards for over 1,000 hours of patrols across 480 shifts when he was supposed to be working but was not.He paid $80,000 to the state.
In addition, Trooper Freniere submitted timecards for over 360 hours across 136 shifts and paid $30,000 back to the state.
“As a result of our collaborative efforts, these troopers are now required to return state funds they falsely received for overtime hours they put in for, but did not actually work,” said Healey.
The False Claims Division was created by Healey in 2015 to safeguard public funds.
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