Former police officer to face charges
Published on February 24th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - The tables were turned on former Stoneham police detective Richard McDonough in recent months as his life was put under a microscope. The in-depth investigation of the Police Department ranks, which had been reported in July of 1998, led to the arrest of the former officer two weeks ago.
McDonough, who has yet to have a court appearance, faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the five charges pressed against him.
Neither McDonough nor his attorney, Thomas Hoops, could be reached for comment.
"I wasn't surprised," Stoneham Police Chief Eugene Passaro said of the arrest last week. "There was an investigation going on by the IRS for some time so why would I be surprised?"
McDonough, who joined the Police Department in 1973, abruptly tendered his letter of resignation to Chief Eugene Passaro in June of 1998, causing speculation about the circumstances surrounding such action. This level of speculation picked up a notch soon after when representative of the US Attorney's Office visited the Police Department and spoke to the chief and other personnel.
Initially, the investigators told Passaro that they had received reports of improper dispersion of towing duties in town and possible bribery. After records were presented to the investigators, however, the focus began to shift.
The IRS was now the catalyst of the investigation and, according to sources close to the case, McDonough quickly became the main suspect.
According to United States District Court documents, McDonough is believed to have began his tax-evading escapades in 1992 when, while employed by Car Craft, he "attempted to evade and defeat a large part of the income taxes... by materially underreporting the gross receipts of his Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business) used automobile business."
According to Jack Olson, owner of Car Craft in Peabody, McDonough was a good employee and a long-time friend. His arrest came as a surprise.
"I've known the guy for a long time" Olson said. "I didn't think anything was out of the ordinary."
He said that stories in Lynn and Salem newspapers inaccurately reporting that McDonough was the owner of Car Craft have severely impacted his business.
"He was an employee for a little while. That was it," Olson said. "He worked under other dealers' license too. It's hurting my business."
In July, when the Stoneham Independent first reported about the investigation, Passaro uttered some prophetic words about the investigation's outcome.
"I know nothing that any officers have done that was wrong," he said at that time. "I can't answer for something that officers were doing off-duty, though."
In 1996, McDonough is alleged to have made over $62,000 on the sale of used cars. He paid only $8,122 in taxes for that year, prosecutors say, and still owes the government $6,268. In 1995, he made $75,844 in his side venture and paid only $8,279 in taxes. He owes another $12,082 for that year alone, the IRS says.
In all, from 1992 to 1998, McDonough accumulated over $36,000 in debt and the US government claims this debt was intentional.
Passaro says that, from his point of view, McDonough was a good officer.
"As a police officer, he performed admirably," the chief said. "It (the charges) had nothing to do with his work as a police officer.
"I saw no inclination of him being anything other than a good police officer."
According to Officer Edward Apalakis, who served with and was a member of Stoneham High School Class of 1965 along with McDonough, "I've known the McDonough family for a long time and I know it must be hard for them.
"He was a detective for all of those years and, as a detective, he always did a good job."
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