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WASHINGTON - Six current and former members of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) are facing charges for corruption in an overtime fraud scheme, according to D.C. officials.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Tuesday that the members received $441,137 in fraudulent pay in 2024.
What we know:
The arrest warrants come after an investigation that was initiated by MPD’s Internal Affairs Division, which uncovered irregularities in overtime submissions. The findings included unusually high volumes of claimed overtime hours and inconsistencies in verification data.
According to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the scheme occurred while the members were assigned to MPD’s Fifth District Administration Office. The investigation, which used body-worn camera footage, radio and GPS records, license plate reader data and travel records, revealed deliberate falsification of overtime submissions and some regular time records.
Each member has been charged with fraud, theft, forging, and using forged documents (uttering).
The six individuals and their alleged fraudulent payout amounts include:
- Former Sergeant Frantz Fulcher: $174,915.39
- Officer Thomas Krmenec: $89,478.00
- Officer Dorrie Smith-Cleere: $87,397.65
- Former Senior Police Officer Bernadette Richardson: $43,351.68
- Johnnie Dyer (civilian): $27,721.59
- Former Lieutenant Peter Sheldon: $18,272.72
Cross-agency partnership
What they're saying:
Due to the limited criminal jurisdiction of the D.C. government under the Home Rule Act, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) entered into a partnership with the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C., allowing OAG attorneys to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute local fraud and public corruption cases.
"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," Attorney General Schwalb said. "While the Home Rule Act does not grant my office the jurisdiction to directly prosecute these cases, through our partnership with the USAO, we are able to protect taxpayer dollars and root out local public corruption. I encourage DC residents to report suspected public corruption to my office."
According to Pirro's office, the investigation identified several methods used by the defendants to unlawfully collect taxpayer money, including forging signatures on authorization forms, leveraging administrative positions to approve false claims, and submitting overtime for hours when they were on annual leave or outside D.C. on domestic and international travel.
"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," U.S. Attorney Pirro said. "They will be held accountable, and my office remains focused on rooting out fraud and protecting the American taxpayer."
The Source: The information in this report is from the D.C. Attorney General's Office and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro's Office.