Boston Police clerk sentenced to prison for overtime fraud

BOSTON – A former clerk for Boston Police Department’s District A-1 Detectives Unit was sentenced today in connection with an investigation of overtime fraud at the Boston Police Department.

Marilyn Golisano, 68, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 90 days in prison followed by three years of supervised release with the first three months to be spent in home confinement. Golisano was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $29,000 to the City of Boston. On Sept. 13, 2021, Golisano pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds and six counts of wire fraud.

Golisano, who handled the overtime paperwork for the unit, submitted dozens of false and fraudulent overtime slips in 2017 and 2018 claiming she had worked extra hours, with many of those slips bearing forged signatures of her supervisor. Although Golisano’s work was done primarily on the computer, Golisano never logged into the BPD computer system at all during many of the overtime shifts she claimed to have worked. Furthermore, on several occasions when Golisano was supposedly working overtime in downtown Boston, cellphone location information placed Golisano well outside the city. In total, Golisano stole $11,000 from BPD in 2017 and $18,000 in 2018 as a result of the fraud.

From 2016 through 2018, BPD received annual benefits from the U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Justice in excess of $10,000, which were funded pursuant to numerous federal grants.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Russell W. Cunningham, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Washington Field Office; and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of Rollins’ Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case.