Crime
The former director of the Department of Elder Services was fired in April 2024 amid “financial irregularities” and a police investigation.
A former Quincy official was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison for embezzling city funds to pay for items including steak tips, a Toyota Prius, and a framed self-portrait, according to federal prosecutors.
Thomas Clasby Jr., 62, of Fitchburg, pleaded guilty in March to embezzlement, mail and wire fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2025.
Following his prison sentence, Clasby will face six months of home confinement and one year of supervised release, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement. He was also ordered to pay more than $136,000 in restitution.
From 1999 to April 2024, Clasby served as director of the Quincy Department of Elder Services. He was fired by Mayor Thomas Koch amid “financial irregularities” and an ongoing Quincy police investigation.
In 2019, Clasby began abusing the city’s purchasing process to cover personal expenses, according to the US Attorney’s Office statement. He used municipal funds to pay for various goods and services, including but not limited to $8,950 for a Weymouth music studio to produce recordings of him singing songs, $2,236 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.”
Clasby also arranged for the city to pay more than $38,000 to a New York consulting company owned by his friend. The consulting company never provided services to the city. Instead, Clasby’s friend cashed the checks and delivered them to him at a rest stop in Framingham, a ferry terminal in Bridgeport, Conn., and the friend’s New York apartment, according to the statement.
From June 2021 to mid-April 2024, the Department of Elder Services collected more than $57,000 in cash from Kennedy Center programs. Clasby stole the majority of the department’s cash receipts and removed money from a safe where program revenue was held.
“Clasby’s actions misdirected taxpayer funds, degraded government services and eroded the public’s trust,” said United States Attorney Leah Foley. “I hope that today’s sentence sends a deterrent message to others, that if you steal from taxpayer funded programs you will be held accountable.”
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