Did anyone catch this little tidbit from Boston.com? Apparently the “Deputy Collector’s office”, to whom I would periodically refer taxpayers when I was working at Assessing, may have been run by a complete crook who stole $2.7 million from the taxpayers.
Wow. Sorry about that, folks…I hope you asked for a receipt when you paid your delinquent excise taxes….
How many teachers, mounted police, new firetrucks, etc could be funded with that stolen $2.7 million, I wonder?
It’s amazing that the law only provides for what appear to be two fundamental categories of larceny: under $250 and over $250, with the result that a high-end shoplifter (say, someone who tries to steal a $300 leather jacket) could theoretically be charged with a criminal offense of equal magnitude to that committed by an individual who steals millions. That seems to me to be a pretty lucky thing for a lot of white-collar criminals.
I wonder how much time this guy will do if he is convicted? Also, I wonder if the city will recover all or any of the money?
The alleged thief, Mr. Colahan, donated $500 to Tom Menino in 2005 -perhaps because of Mr. Menino’s heroic efforts to make Boston a friendly environment for business.