The former high-ranking Stoneham, Massachusetts, police officer who was the focus of an NBC10 Boston investigation into evictions and unpaid civil ju
The former high-ranking Stoneham, Massachusetts, police officer who was the focus of an NBC10 Boston investigation into evictions and unpaid civil judgments has been charged with wire fraud, according to a criminal complaint submitted this week in federal court.
Robert Kennedy is described as a “serial debt fraudster who has a trail of bad debts, collections, and unpaid judgments” in an affidavit from an FBI special agent that was included in the criminal charge that was submitted to federal court in Boston on Thursday.
Kennedy’s 20-year history of evictions and unpaid civil judgements was extensively investigated by NBC10. The veracity of his testimony and how he received $10,000 in taxpayer-funded rental assistance despite earning a consistent six-figure income were also called into question by housing court records.
Town officials in Stoneham requested earlier this month that the state look into claims made against Kennedy, who left the Stoneham Police Department in February.
Kennedy was scheduled to appear in court Friday morning to answer the additional wire fraud charge. He has previously claimed to NBC10 Boston that no one should be interested in his private financial background.
According to the federal lawsuit, Kennedy would “[take] advantage of the slow eviction process, which was further delayed because Kennedy’s girlfriend filed fraudulent applications for housing assistance,” in order to reside in the apartments rent-free.
The lawsuit examines every aspect of Kennedy’s alleged wrongdoing, including bank accounts, wages, rent payments, and debts.
“Kennedy defrauded his last three landlords by providing materially false and misleading information in his rental applications to obtain the respective apartment leases,” the complaint says. “After moving in, Kennedy would intentionally withhold rent payments, despite making $141,000 – $187,000 a year from the Stoneham Police Department.”
The NBC10 Investigators discovered on February 3 that Kennedy and his partner accrued more than $50,000 in unpaid rent while being kicked out of apartment buildings in Reading and Stoneham.
Payroll documents for those three years revealed that Kennedy earned more than $500,000 while working as a police officer.
