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STEALING MONEY FROM INMATES, THEN TRYING TO COVER IT UP WITH FALSE STATEMENTS AND A PHONY REPORT. ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS, 50-YEAR-OLD RONALD MOLONEY OF PEABODY, A CORRECTIONS OFFICER WITH THE MIDDLESEX SHERIFF’S OFFICE FOR OVER 15 YEARS, HAD ACCESS TO INMATES CANTEEN ACCOUNTS AND WORKED UP A WAY TO STEAL MORE THAN $6,000. >> THE COMMONWEALTH THE DEFENDANT IMPROPERLY ACCESSED THE ACCOUNTS OF 101 INMATES. ISSUED DEBIT CARD, PURPORTING TO PROVIDE THEM TO THE INMATES BUT IN FACT USED THEM HIMSELF >> OFFICIALS SAY THEY UNCOVERED THIS SCHEME BACK IN JUNE, AFTER AN INMATE WHO WAS HOUSED HERE AT THE MIDDLESEX HOUSE OF CORRECTION IN BILLERICA WAS TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER PRISON AND INQUIRED ABOUT HIS CANTEEN MONEY. THAT MONEY WAS PUT ON A DEBIT CARD A MONTH BEFORE BY MOLONEY, AND SPENT THE NEXT DAY. OFFICIALS GO ONTO SAY MOLONEY ISSUED A REPORT SAYING HE MISTAKENLY TRANSFERRED THAT MONEY TO A DIFFERENT INMATES ACCOUNT BUT WHEN INERNAL , INVESTIGATORS DUG DEEPER, THEY FOUND THAT TO BE UNTRUE. THAT’S WHEN THEY ALSO DISCOVERED THE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FROM INMATE ACCOUNTS TRANSFERRED TO DEBIT WHICH TRANSFERRED TO DEBIT CARDS SOME OF IT USED OR ACCESSED AT A NORTH SHORE CONVENIENCE STORE. WHEN CONFRONTED BY A STATE TROOPER, THE DOCUMENTS SAY HE TOLD THEM HE HAD BEEN HAVING A HARD TIME DURING THE YEAR, AND HAD DIFFICULTY REMEMBERING A LOT OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. THE DEFENDANT SAID HE WAS EXPECTING A CALL LIKE THIS AND WANTED TO CLEAR THE AIR. HE THEN ASKED ABOUT THE TOTAL AMOUNT THAT WAS MISSING. MOLONEY WAS CHARGED WITH LARCENY

Advertisement Correction officer accused of stealing money from inmates' accounts Ronald Moloney is accused of stealing $6,229.62 Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A Middlesex County correction officer is accused of stealing several thousand dollars from inmates' canteen accounts, officials announced Tuesday. Ronald Moloney, 50, of Peabody, was suspended without pay from his job at the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction in light of the allegations, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan and Sheriff Peter Koutoujian announced. Moloney is accused of stealing $6,229.62 by issuing fraudulent debit cards from the accounts of inmates at the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction, where he worked. According to the announcement, he obtained the money by issuing 93 debit cards and on eight cards processed by another member of the staff. Officials said the investigation began after an inmate requested a transfer of his account to another correctional facility in June 2019. While processing the request, the Sheriff's Office found records indicating that the money had already been issued to a debit card and spent. "However, the inmate requesting the transfer could not have received a debit card or spent the money because he was incarcerated at the time of the transactions," Ryan's office wrote. "The defendant then wrote a report claiming he mistakenly credited the money to a debit card for another inmate. The subsequent investigation into this matter revealed that this report was false and that the other inmate had never received the funds."Ryan's office said Moloney targeted the dormant accounts of inmates who had been released in order to avoid detection of this scheme, which allegedly began in March. At his arraignment Monday, Moloney was ordered to stay away from witnesses, including other employees of the Sheriff's Office. He was released on his own recognizance pending a pretrial hearing on Jan. 17. He faces charges of larceny of over $1,200 and filing of a false report by a public employee.