Democratic Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested last month on public corruption charges following an alleged scheme to receive kickbacks. Following a federal probe, Fernandes Anderson has been charged with six felonies. The District 7 council member has also been the subject of other controversies including failure to report campaign contributions and ethics violations.
Fernandes Anderson allegedly coordinated a bonus payment of $13,000 to be made to a City Hall employee in which she received a kickback. Reportedly, Fernandes Anderson had the individual to meet her in the bathroom and give her approximately $7,000 in cash. The individual was described as someone “related to [Fernandes Anderson] but not an immediate family member.”
An FBI spokesman said during a press conference in early December, “Earlier today, Boston City Council member Tanya Fernandez Anderson was arrested on federal public corruption charges. These six felony charges stem from an alleged kickback scheme that she orchestrated to obtain several thousand dollars in taxpayer money in exchange for a bribe she paid to a staffer who gave she gave her a very large bonus.”
The spokesman further detailed the apparent motivations behind the kickback scheme. “According to the indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury earlier this week, Ms Fernandez Anderson was facing financial difficulty in 2023, part of that financial difficulty stemmed from a sanction that was imposed by the state ethics commission of $5,000 for Mrs. Fernandez Anderson, hiring immediate family members in her Boston City Council office,” he said.
The official further noted, “And in around that same time, in 2023 Miss Fernandez Anderson, the grand jury ledgers patched this scheme to funnel bonus payments taxpayer money into her own pocket in the tune of approximately $7,000.” The report further alleges that Anderson Fernandes extended an unusually large bonus to a staff member she had hired who was related to her.
“Despite the fact that she was under investigation by the state Ethics Commission, Miss Fernandez Anderson hired another family member on her staff at Boston City Hall to handle constituent services. That staff member was related to her, but Miss Fernandez Anderson falsely represented to city hall that there was no family familiar relationship. That is staff member A in the indictment, Miss Fernandez Anderson then went on to tell that staff member a that she would give that person a $13,000 bonus,” the spokesman added.
The story quickly spread around conservative circles on social media. The popular X account I Meme Therefore I Am reported, “FBI arrests Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, a Democrat, on public corruption charges. Anderson is facing five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds.”
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The account added, “Boston Democrat Tania Fernandes Anderson under federal probe City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who represents District 7, is reportedly under federal investigation and has received federal subpoenas. Anderson has faced controversy in the past. Last month, she was cited for failing to report $32,900 in campaign contributions and for accepting donations that exceeded state limits.”
Citing Anderson Fernandes’ other scandals, I Meme Therefore I am continued, “In 2023, she was fined for ethics violations after hiring her sister and son for City Council staff positions and granting them raises. It is also worth noting that Anderson married a man who, at the time of their marriage, and remains, incarcerated for LIFE for MURDER! Anderson has been accused of making racist comments directed at various races, with the exception of black individuals.”
Watch Fernandes Anderson in August 2022 below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video