Boston Fire Department District Chief Indicted For Fraud, Larceny
BOSTON (CBS) – A Boston Fire Department district chief was indicted Thursday on charges related to two schemes he used to allegedly profit off of vendors who thought they were giving money to the fire department.
Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a Thursday announcement that Kingston resident Edward Scigliano, 45, was indicted by a Suffolk County grand jury on five counts of procurement fraud and five counts of larceny over $250.
Scigliano is a Boston Fire Department district chief who previously worked at the Boston Fire Academy as a drillmaster. He was on paid administrative leave for 28 months before he was charged Thursday. He is now on administrative leave with no pay.
During one of the schemes, Scigliano allegedly profited off of checks from an emergency vehicle vendor.
In a second scheme, it is alleged that Scigliano took money from a vendor used to supply the Boston Fire Department.
Scigliano directed one of the vendors to issue checks to his personal credit cards totaling over $32,000, investigators said.
Prosecutors also said Scigliano instructed another vendor to purchase items such as a 52-inch television, a gas grill, a living room set, an elliptical machine and gift cards that were allegedly bought for his personal use.
"We allege that this defendant abused his position as a public employee in order to benefit personally," said Coakley. "He allegedly stole tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars that should have gone back to the City of Boston, and instead, directed that money for his own personal use."
Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph E. Finn says the department has cooperated fully with the investigation.
"These allegations of misconduct are disappointing to say the least," Finn said in a statement. "I have a zero tolerance for anyone who betrays the oath of office of a firefighter and pledge to take swift, decisive action if warranted, at the resolution of this case."
Scigliano is scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on November 25
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