A couple from the United States embezzled nearly $500,000 from the government, funding 31 extravagant trips to Walt Disney World under the guise of business travel.
According to the New York Post, 61-year-old Thomas Bouchard, an Army contractor, exploited his role to secure a “no-show” job for his girlfriend, 53-year-old Cantelle Boyd, as his assistant, facilitating their numerous vacations. Prosecutors stated that this scheme resulted in a loss of more than $490,000 to the Department of Defense.
As reported by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the couple’s fraudulent activities included booking vacations lasting from two to 15 days, during which they stayed at hotels, relaxed by pools, and visited Disney parks, among other leisure activities, all on the government’s dime.
Bouchard, who led the US Army Natick Contracting Division in Massachusetts, leveraged his long-term relationship with government contractor Evolution Enterprise Inc. to appoint Ms. Boyd. From 2014 to 2018, she received a government salary of $487,658 for “little if any useful function,” adding $75,583 in unjustified travel expenses to the government’s losses.
Bouchard concealed the personal nature of these trips, falsifying and approving expense records to claim reimbursements. In July 2020, federal authorities apprehended the couple. Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and ten counts of theft of government funds and false declarations. In August, Bouchard was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and was ordered to pay $487,658 in restitution.
