BOSTON — Boston city leaders are calling for a city and federal investigation after an independent watchdog agency uncovered tens of thousands of dollars in alleged misused federal grant money by a local non-profit.
The Boston Finance Commission said it found more than $30,000 in changed bank statement entries from Three Squares Main Street in Jamaica Plain.
Three Squares Main Street is part of the Main Street citywide initiative of 20 non-profits aimed at revitalizing and sustaining neighborhood commercial districts.
The potential fraud involves ARPA funds that were part of the $560 million in pandemic relief money received by the city of Boston.
“Regardless of how much it was, whether it was $30,000 or $30 million, it’s still taxpayer money,” said District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn. “This money came from the federal government to the city of Boston to support non-profits.”
Councilor Flynn is calling for a thorough audit of all Main Street’s programs after a two-page report from the Boston Finance Commission provided proof of alleged tampered bank statements from Three Squares Main Street.
“We have to investigate to determine if it was an isolated incident or is there are other Main Street programs involved as well,” he said.
Boston 25 News reached out to Three Squares Main Street director Warren Williams as well as directors of other Main Street programs, and is still waiting to hear back.
A letter from the Boston Finance Commission said it discovered irregularities after reviewing documents related to several grants provided by the City of Boston.
“It appears that all funds were deposited into a co-mingled bank account,” it said. “When suspected altered statements were discovered, bank statements submitted for the same month for different grants were compared, and altered documents were detected.”
“In this case, it seems clear that they used it to line their own pockets, so they were stealing,” said At-Large Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy. “It’s important that the businesses in that area don’t end up struggling because someone mismanaged money, and in this case, stole money.”
Some city councilors are now calling for more fiscal oversight.
However, Mayor Michelle Wu credits city staff for tracking every dollar of federal funds spent on pandemic recovery.
“Really thankful to our city employees who really carried out those oversight processes exactly as they should have, and now this larger investigation can take place,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “We are going to continue to audit very carefully all of the dollars that went out.”
The Boston Finance Commission said it has alerted the feds of its findings.
Boston 25 News reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment and has not yet heard back.
It’s still unclear if criminal charges are being pursued in connection with these allegations.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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