Federal prosecutors issued arrest warrants for six former and current Metropolitan Police Department workers accused of fraudulently claiming overtime and bilking taxpayers out of almost half a million dollars.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Tuesday announced corruption charges against Metropolitan Police officers for falsifying clock-in records in 2024.
They received $441,137 in fraudulent overtime pay. The largest amount claimed was almost $175,000, while the smallest amount totaled about $18,200.
Former Sgt. Frantz Fulcher, former senior Officer Bernadette Richardson, former Lt. Peter Sheldon, Officer Thomas Krmenec, Officer Dorrie Smith-Cleere and civilian Johnnie Dyer are charged with fraud, theft, forging and uttering (knowingly presenting fake documentation as real).
Prosecutors said the employees in the department’s Fifth District Administrative Office submitted false claims for overtime hours or regular tour duty hours by manipulating official records, forging supervisory approvals or claiming compensation while in secondary employment.
Prosecutors’ investigation found that the police workers were claiming overtime while outside of the District, including during domestic and international travel, or claiming overtime while on annual leave. They also allegedly used administrative positions to facilitate fraudulent overtime processing and approvals.
Mr. Fulcher submitted the most fraudulent overtime hours — 1,861 — translating to more than 232 eight-hour workdays.
“Every day, we rely on law enforcement to uphold the public’s trust. These MPD members betrayed that trust by scheming to collect unearned, undeserved income, costing the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Ms. Pirro said in a statement. “They will be held accountable, and my office remains focused on rooting out fraud and protecting the American taxpayer.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is partnered with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General to prosecute local fraud and public corruption cases.
Because the District’s Home Rule Act does not grant the city’s attorney general jurisdiction to directly prosecute such cases, the partnership allows the office to “protect taxpayer dollars and root out local public corruption,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said.
“These six officers abused their positions of power, exploiting the District and the residents they took an oath to serve and protect. No one is above the law, especially those trusted with enforcing it,” Mr. Schwalb said in a statement.
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