County Official Caught Stealing Public Money

Video Catches 22-Year Public Official in Act

Story Updated 5:15PM, Thursday, August 7, 2008

– Allison Goldsberry

A county official and twenty-two year public servant has been caught with his hand allegedly in the till.

Middlesex County Register of Probate John Buonomo has been arrested in connection with his alleged theft of public monies.

According to Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone, Buonomo is accused of repeatedly stealing cash from copy machines and money machines in the Office of the Register of Deeds during June, July, and August. A video camera caught Buonomo in the act numerous times during those months.

Buonomo, 56, of Newton, is charged with eighteen counts of breaking and entering into a depository and eight counts of theft of public property by a city, town, or county officer- both felonies- and eight counts of larceny under $250- a misdemeanor.

“It is highly troubling that a public official would engage in the kind of brazen theft of public monies that we allege here. We believe that Mr. Buonomo violated the public’s trust by regularly accessing these cash machines without authority and stealing taxpayer money. I want to thank the Secretary of State’s Office, the Registry of Deeds, the Trial Court, and the Chief Justice for Administration and Management for their cooperation during this investigation. I also want to commend the members of the Massachusetts State Police in our PACT Unit for their comprehensive investigation – and that investigation continues,” said District Attorney Leone.

The Middlesex County DA’s PACT Unit launched an investigation in June when the Registry of Deeds noticed monthly shortages in receipts from their copy machines that are estimated to be up to as much as thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors say surveillance video caught Buonomo pocketing cash for himself on at least eight different occasions. According to the Registry of Deeds, Buonomo, a county-wide elected official, has no authority to access the cash machines or copy machines on the Registry of Deeds side of the building nor does he have the authority to remove money from the machines.

Buonomo was arraigned Thursday morning in Cambridge District Court. He was released on his personal recognizance based on the condition that he stay away the building of the Registry of Deeds and the Probate Office.

Buonomo’s next court date is September 18.

If convicted, Buonomo faces up to twenty years in prison.

According to a biography on the Probate Court’s website– a site in which Buonomo says he is paying for personally- he was first elected Register of Probate in 2000 to finish an unexpired term and was then re-elected in 2002 to a full 6-year term. Buonomo has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Northeastern and has been a public official for twenty-two years, including five years as County Administrator and more than a decade on Somerville’s School Committee and Board of Alderman.