BOSTON — A former executive secretary at the Boston Housing Authority pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to falsifying overtime forms and collecting more than $72,000 in fraudulent overtime pay.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Helen Murray, 41, of Malden, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for July 7, 2026.
Murray worked as an executive secretary at the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) from 2017 to 2024. In that role, she was responsible for collecting weekly BHA timesheets and overtime forms from other employees, and she was also eligible to work overtime and receive overtime pay.
Federal prosecutors say that in order to collect overtime, Murray’s overtime work had to be pre-approved by senior management. She was required to perform the overtime work, accurately and honestly complete an overtime form, and then submit it to her immediate supervisor by email for electronic approval.
Instead, beginning in January 2023, Murray submitted false overtime forms to BHA payroll. According to prosecutors, Murray entered overtime hours she had not worked, falsified her supervisor’s signature without the supervisor’s knowledge or permission, and then emailed the forms directly to payroll.
Prosecutors said BHA payroll then included the fraudulent overtime pay in Murray’s weekly paycheck.
In total, Murray submitted more than 100 falsified overtime forms between January 2023 and August 2024, collecting about $72,131 in fraudulent overtime pay, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted E. Docks, and Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao, chief of the Public Corruption Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, is prosecuting the case.