REVERE — The city’s former water and sewer billing supervisor will appear in court after Thanksgiving for allegedly pocketing cash for outdoor water meters.
Michael Amentola of Revere was arrested last Thursday and charged with one felony count of larceny over $1,200.
According to the arrest report by the Revere Police Department, obtained by The Item through the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, Amentola was the Water and Sewer Department’s billing supervisor from February 2017 to Sept. 11, 2018, when he resigned.
He was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 6, after the city became aware that he may have stolen and sold about 120 PSM water meters to citizens.
A program in Revere allows residents to purchase a separate meter designed to measure the water used outdoors to receive a credit against the sewer rates for water usage typically not directed through the city’s sewer system.
The newly appointed superintendent of the Water and Sewer Department discovered that some of the outdoor water meters had been distributed without any record of distribution or payment, said Mayor Brian Arrigo. Arrigo’s office initiated an internal review into the unaccounted for water meters.
Resident accounts showed that Amentola had allegedly taken cash payments on more than one occasion for the unaccounted for meters, said Arrigo. When it became clear that the employee was engaged in more than shoddy bookkeeping, the matter was referred to the Revere Police Department, he said.
Detectives interviewed many citizens and confirmed that 16 residents paid for 18 meters, which were not recorded as purchased, according to the arrest report.
All 16 reported that they paid cash directly to Amentola between January and September 2018. Armentola allegedly charged the residents different amounts ranging from $100 to $150 for each meter. He allegedly used the existing meter waitlist, contacting citizens and offering them meters for cash, and almost always met with them at his office at Revere City Hall, sometimes after regular working hours, according to the report.
The confirmed theft at this time is $1,940, according to the report. The total amount of meters confirmed to have been sold, both officially and unofficially, is 36.
“This means 84 PSM meters are unaccounted for at this time,” according to the report.
The cost of each to taxpayers is $100, for a total of $8,400. This brings the total loss to $10,640, according to the arrest report.
“This situation demonstrates the importance of the long-overdue policies and procedures necessary to prevent and detect such malfeasance so we don’t find ourselves in this position again,” Arrigo said in a statement last week. “I remain committed to instituting and implementing those policies through the audits we have already begun.
“It is of utmost importance that the public feel confident that their money is being rightfully handled,” said Arrigo. “We have made significant progress but there is still a lot of work left to do in order to deliver the transparency and accountability to local government that our residents deserve.”
Amentola was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from City Hall by Chelsea District Court Judge William Fitzpatrick. He is due back in court Nov. 26.
