Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested on Friday on federal fraud charges. She is accused of funneling part of an inflated bonus payment to a staffer, who was related to her, into her own pockets during an exchange at a City Hall bathroom, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Anderson, who was facing financial problems, was arrested outside her home on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds. U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy announced the charges at a news conference, stating that Anderson was scheduled to appear in federal court later that day after being indicted by a grand jury earlier in the week.
The indictment revealed that Anderson had hired another family member to work in her office at Boston City Hall, despite being under investigation by the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission for a similar offense. Council members are prohibited from hiring immediate family members to their paid staff.
Levy explained that Anderson promised the staffer a $13,000 bonus, significantly higher than what the rest of the staff received combined. However, the bonus came with a condition that the staffer had to return $7,000 in cash to Anderson. The staffer agreed to the arrangement and handed over the money in a City Hall bathroom after withdrawing it from her bank account in multiple transactions.
Fernandes Anderson, who made history as the first African immigrant and first Muslim elected to the council in November 2021, was reelected in 2023. The document did not mention whether she had legal representation, and attempts to reach her for comment were unsuccessful.
