FBI agents arrested Boston City Councillor Tania Fernandes Anderson at her Dorchester home last Friday morning (Dec. 6) and federal prosecutors later accused her of orchestrating a kickback scheme with a staffer to obtain thousands of dollars in cash. US Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy announced that she had been indicted by a grand jury on five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.

Her arrest and arraignment prompted immediate calls for Fernandes Anderson to resign from her District 7 seat from Mayor Wu, Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, and four other colleagues on the council, including Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Sharon Durkin, Ed Flynn, and Erin Murphy.

In an 11-page indictment, prosecutors alleged that Fernandes Anderson struck an agreement with a staffer by which she instructed city personnel to pay her employee a $13,000 bonus without disclosing that the staffer would give most of the money back to the councillor.

Prosecutors say Fernandes Anderson and the staff member met in a City Hall bathroom on June 9, 2023, where the staffer handed Fernandes Anderson $7,000 in cash to complete the alleged kickback.

“Using public office for personal gain is a crime. Her behavior, as alleged in today’s indictment, is a slap in the face to the hardworking taxpayers in the city of Boston who have every right to expect that the city’s funds are in good and honest hands,” Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said in a statement. “This case illustrates how the FBI, and our partners are working hard every day to battle public corruption and the corrosive damage it does to people’s faith in government.”

The staff member in the indictment was not a member of Fernandes Anderson’s immediate family, according to the court records, so that person’s hiring did not conflict with state ethics laws, unlike the cases of her sister and son, whose hiring led to a $5,000 fine by the state Ethics Commission. However, the indictment continued, when Fernandes Anderson hired the third relative in November 2022 at a salary of $65,000, she hid that the new employee was related to her.

The indictment continues that when Fernandes Anderson ran into personal financial difficulties starting in early 2023, including missed rent and car payments, bank overdrafts and the $5,000 state ethics fine, she hatched a plan to give the relative “extra pay in the form of a large bonus,” part of which the employee would then have to give to Fernandes Anderson.

To cover up the scheme — since staff bonus information was public information — the councillor told all her staff workers they would be getting bonuses but that the relative, dubbed “Staff Member A” by the indictment, would be getting a larger bonus for alleged prior volunteer work.

On May 3, the indictment states, Fernandes Anderson sent an e-mail to a City Hall employee to process a $13,000 bonus payment to Staff Member A— more than twice as much as the entire total of bonuses for the rest of her staff.

The bonus was included in a May 26 salary check, which the employee deposited in their account at Santander bank. At Fernandes Anderson’s direction, the indictment states, the relative then made three withdrawals over a ten-day period totaling $10,000.

At 4:11 p.m. on June 9, the indictment states, Staff Member A sent Fernandes Anderson a one-word text: “Bathroom.” The councilor replied: “Ready.”

“Shortly following these texts, Staff Member A handed Fernandes Anderson approximately $7,000 in cash at a bathroom in City Hall,” the charging document alleges.

The five wire-fraud abetting counts relate to the five specific alleged acts Staff Member A took - starting with depositing the check with the bonus, the three withdrawals and then the handover of cash. The federal-funds charge relates to the fact that the city of Boston receives more than $10,000 a year in federal funds.

When asked for her reaction last Friday, Wu told reporters that Fernandes Anderson should step down.

“There’s a legal process to play out and everyone in our community deserves the right to a fair legal process,” she told reporters. “With that being said, these charges are serious enough that I believe that it is of the nature that it will undermine the ability for the public to trust and have effective representation in this case.”

Later, Louijeune agreed in a written statement: “Public trust is paramount in our line of work, especially at the local level. Councillor Fernandes Anderson has every right to due process in a court of law, [but] given the severity of the allegations brought against her, and the direct impact that they have on residents’ ability to see the Boston City Council as their faithful stewards, it is in the best interest of the body that she resign. This would allow the legal process to unfold without undue disruption to the body.”

On Monday, Fernandes Anderson chaired a virtual council hearing on planning and development but did not address the criminal charges she faces or the calls for her to resign. Last week, before her arrest, she discussed news reports that indicated she was under federal investigation, but did not offer specifics.

“My job is to show up and fight for you, and I will continue to do just that – the people’s work,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I am not able to comment on this matter at this time. As soon as I can, I will be sure to share more with you.”

If Fernandes Anderson, who is 45, were to resign in the coming days or weeks, the vacancy would prompt a special election to replace her in the District 7 seat that she has held since Jan. 2022. She was re-elected in November 2023 in a contest against perennial candidate Althea Garrison.

State House News Service reports were used in compiling this story.