Six members of D.C.’s police department are accused of falsifying overtime claims by forging supervisor approval and manipulating official records, resulting in the District paying them more than $440,000 for work they didn’t do, according to D.C.’s attorney general.
According to D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, the six individuals engaged in a scheme to claim and receive thousands of dollars in overtime pay for hours they didn’t work while they were assigned to D.C. police’s Fifth District administrative office.
The accused officers and individuals and the amount they allegedly received is below:
- Former Sgt. Frantz Fulcher, $174,915.39
- Officer Dorrie Smith-Cleere, $87,397.65
- Officer Thomas Krmenec, $89,478.00
- Former Senior Police Officer Bernadette Richardson, $43,351.68
- Former Lt. Peter Sheldon, $18,272.72
- Johnnie Dyer (civilian), $27,721.59
They are charged with first-degree fraud, first-degree theft, forgery and uttering, which is when someone is accused of knowingly passing, using or presenting a fake or forged document to trick someone into believing it’s real to commit fraud.
The six made their first court appearance on Wednesday, after which they were released on their own personal recognizance and are being monitored by the pretrial services agency.
According to arrest records, these officers would often type in codes onto their pay system, showing they worked more hours than they actually did. The common reasons are described as 鈥淏ackfill,鈥� 鈥淗otspot鈥� and 鈥淐DU.鈥� CDU stands for Citizen Disturbance Unit and consists of specially trained personnel tasked with handling protests, demonstrations and civil disturbances.
Arrest records show Krmenec logged approximately 1,103 overtime hours with these codes when he was not even in the city.
From July 14 to July 20, 2024, arrest warrants said Krmenec logged 60 hours of overtime over those six straight days, claiming he was working 鈥淐DU,鈥� but cell phone data showed he was instead traveling around Maryland or near his home in Ellicot City, Maryland.
Furthermore, roll call records did not identify Krmenec during those hours. No body camera records, police reports or GPS activities showed him working at the times.
Krmenec also work as an Administrative Officer in the Fifth District and warrants showed he was able to facilitate the 鈥渟ubmission of these false records.鈥�
Arrest warrants for the other officers show similar instances of submitted overtime during hours cell phone data demonstrated they were actually out of the city or they were within the Fifth District office rather than on patrol, which was indicated on overtime records.
鈥淭hese 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,鈥� Schwalb said in a news release.
When contacted 太子探花 for further information, a D.C. police spokesperson said the department can’t comment on ongoing investigations.聽
WTOP’s Luke Lukert contributed to this report.聽
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