BOSTON, March 16, 2016— Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, Massachusetts Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General David A. Montoya today announced that the former head of a Boston elder services program has been indicted for stealing thousands of dollars that were intended to benefit the city’s seniors.
As the result of a multi-agency investigation, a Suffolk County grand jury today returned indictments charging ALFRED G. DAVIS (D.O.B. 5/20/45) of Lynn with two counts of larceny over $250 and single counts of forgery and uttering.
The investigation revealed that Davis was the director of elder services for the Boston Housing Authority in 2008, when the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named him a “Community Health Leader” and awarded him a grant of $105,000 to help improve the health of Boston seniors living in public housing, along with a $20,000 stipend to be used for his personal development as a community health leader. However, Davis – a 20-year employee of the BHA – never informed the housing agency of the grant funds that were intended to benefit its elderly residents, prosecutors said.
Davis used some of the funds to fulfill the grant’s intended purpose but is alleged to have misused $20,000 for his own personal use, making a series of ATM withdrawals from the grant account totaling $5,400 and receiving approximately $9,900 directly from the foundation after he submitted a forged invoice for a senior fitness program that had already been funded, prosecutors said. Davis used some of the grant funds to purchase taxi vouchers for seniors to travel to appointments at a community dental clinic, but later presented the clinic with receipts for the cab fares and requested reimbursement for the cost of the trips. The clinic paid Davis approximately $5,222 in travel and other reimbursements that he was not due out of funds from a separate grant that had been awarded to the clinic by the Sunshine Lady Foundation.
Davis allegedly used the siphoned philanthropic funds to pay for personal expenses, including travel expenses in Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Barbados; expensive meals; a mattress; virility supplements; and collectible coins, prosecutors said.
As a result of the theft, the Elder/Disabled Housing Division of the Boston Housing Authority was eliminated and its operations subsumed by other City of Boston offices.
“This defendant was a trusted member of the elder services community. But rather than fulfilling the commitment he made to Boston’s seniors, he allegedly used his position of trust to cash in at the expense of vulnerable elders and the agencies dedicated to meeting their needs,” DA Conley said.
“This indictment comes as the result of a great cooperation and partnership with several agencies,” Commissioner Edwards said. “Protecting our elders is a job we take very seriously. I would like to acknowledge the great work of the Boston Police Anti-Corruption Division and all the agencies that worked on securing today’s indictment.”
“Mr. Davis used his position to steal grant money intended to improve the lives of elderly BHA residents,” Inspector General Cunha said. Instead he spent it on himself. We’re pleased that the District Attorney and investigators from our office, the Boston Police and the HUD Inspector General were able to hold Mr. Davis accountable for this abuse.”
The collaborative investigation resulting in today’s indictments was led by Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight, chief of the DA’s Elders and Persons with Disabilities Unit; Sgt. Lawrence Hoffman of the Boston Police Anti-Corruption Division; Senior Investigator Daniel O’Neil of the Office of the Inspector General; and Special Agent Jessica Thompson of the HUD Office of the Inspector General. Kelly Hogan is the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Davis’ arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
