Ex-Veterans Department boss arrested

Ex-Veterans Department boss arrested

By Marie Szaniszlo  |   Saturday, April 9, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

The former head administrative clerk for Boston’s Veterans’ Services Department was arrested yesterday after he was indicted on charges of demanding kickbacks from two women, said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

The indictment charges 57-year-old Joseph H. Miller of Beverly with larceny, extortion and multiple other charges.

According to officials, Miller’s scheme allegedly began in November 2009, when he approached a woman and proposed she work as a health care aide to her mother, a vet’s widow, using another person’s license. Miller allegedly then told her to give him up to $1,700 per paycheck, and when the woman balked, he suggested he could withhold her mother’s benefits.

Officials said a second woman, a certified nurse’s aide, also provided care through the department, and Miller allegedly inflated her time sheets to increase his take.

The scheme came to prosecutors’ attention last summer, when the two victims contacted a lawyer.

The city has hired a special administrator to oversee daily operations at Veterans’ Services and is in the process of identifying a new department head.spokeswoman said.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1329438