Former Massachusetts official indicted for allegedly embezzling taxpayer funds: 'Utterly disgraceful'

Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald on Jan 8, 2025

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BOSTON — A former official in Quincy has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating an “utterly disgraceful” scheme in which he embezzled thousands in taxpayer dollars for self expenditures including over 100 pounds of bourbon steak tips.

Thomas F. Clasby, Jr., 60, of Fitchburg, has been indicted on charges of embezzlement, mail and wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property and is set to appear in federal court in Boston’s Seaport at 12:45 p.m.

Clasby, who served as Quincy’s elder services director between 1999 and last April, is accused of arranging the city to pay more than $38,000 to a New York consulting company that his friend owned, but the company never provided goods or services to the city, the indictment states.

“Instead, Clasby’s friend allegedly cashed the City checks and delivered the cash to Clasby at a rest stop in Framingham, Mass., a ferry terminal in Bridgeport, Conn. and at the friend’s New York apartment,” a release issued by U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy’s office states.

“The indictment further alleges that, starting in June 2021, Clasby stole the vast majority of cash receipts generated by Elder Services at the Kennedy Center in Quincy,” the release adds.

The indictment states that Clasby’s spending spree with taxpayer money began in 2019 when he was accused of using the city’s purchasing process to pay personal expenses and generate cash for his own good.

Through that, Clasby allegedly spent $8,950 to a music studio to produce recordings of him singing songs, $2,236 to food service vendors for 153 pounds of bourbon steak tips; $4,800 for a Toyota Prius; and $1,658 for a signature, lacquered, mounted, and framed self-portrait.

“Stealing money from programs that are set up to help our seniors is utterly disgraceful,” FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen said in a statement.“Today, the FBI arrested Thomas Clasby for allegedly padding his paycheck in a big way, using tens of thousands of dollars belonging to the city’s coffers as his own personal slush fund.”

“In doing so,” she added, “we believe he cheated the city of Quincy’s Department of Elder Services, the taxpayers who help fund it, and all the honest municipal workers who do the right thing, in the right way, every day.”

The embezzlement charge provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charges of mail and wire fraud provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of interstate transportation of stolen property provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Authorities arrested Clasby at his Fitchburg home, Levy’s office stated.

“Thomas Clasby’s alleged betrayal of trust is not just a theft from the City of Quincy but an affront to the seniors he was sworn to serve and the taxpayers who funded these programs,” Levy said in a statement. “Let this indictment serve as a reminder: public officials who exploit their positions for personal gain will be found out and held accountable for their crimes.”

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