City cop allegedly used stolen cash to play the slots
$2G stolen from evidence room
A Boston police officer has been charged with stealing cash from a bank robbery out of the evidence room and playing the slots with it at Plainridge Park Casino.
Officer Joseph Nee, 44, has been suspended without pay from his job in the Evidence Management Unit in Hyde Park.
He was indicted yesterday by a Suffolk County grand jury on charges of larceny over $250 and money laundering, Attorney General Maura Healey’s office said in a statement.
Nee is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 30. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In January, Nee stole about $2,000 from the evidence file of a closed bank robbery case, authorities said.
The stolen money had traces of red dye from an anti-theft dye pack that discharged during the bank robbery, the statement said.
Nee fed some of the stolen cash into slot machines at Plainridge Park Casino and also tried to trade some of the stolen money at a casino kiosk at Plainridge for cash that wasn’t tainted with red dye, the statement said.
Elaine Driscoll, of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said in a statement: “MGC’s State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit has worked in close coordination with the Boston Police Department and the Office of the Attorney General throughout this investigation. The swift detection and identification of wrongdoing in this case is a credit to the continued implementation of strong security protocols, effective surveillance, vigilant staff, and focused law enforcement efforts at Plainridge Park Casino. Let the message be clear that Massachusetts will have zero tolerance for activity that compromises the integrity of the state’s gaming industry, which includes attempts to disguise illegal cash as gambling winnings.”
Nee has been a Boston cop since 1998 and had an annual salary of $102,000.
The Herald was the first to report earlier this week that Nee was under criminal investigation by Healey’s office and that he had been suspended with pay since Aug. 9.
Cops yesterday announced his suspension is now without pay pending the outcome of his case.
Police said they asked Healey’s office to investigate the allegations against Nee.
BPD Commissioner William B. Evans said in a statement, “The behavior alleged in today’s indictment is inexcusable. I hold my officers to the highest standards and expect them to obey the law that they have taken an oath to uphold. Allegations like this can damage the trust my officers have worked so hard to build with the community. The Anti-Corruption Unit will continue to investigate all allegations of wrongdoing by my officers.”