Carnright said the fraud extended to the U.S. Department of Justice’s asset forfeiture program. The program, run by the U.S. Marshals Service, allows local police agencies to get back a portion of seized money once federal attorneys prove the cash was the product of illicit activity. Often, Carnright said, Matthews would tell fellow cops that he had passed along seized money to the asset forfeiture program to be processed, and eventually returned to the department to pay for operations, while in fact pocketing the cash. If questions arose when the seizure money would be placed into the operating budget, Matthews would use his dual role at KPD and URGENT to allay suspicion. Sheriff’s officials would be told that the money in question had been allocated to the KPD while Kingston police commanders would be told that the money went to URGENT.
How the case was made
Carnright said that unraveling the fraud took a significant effort on the part of his office and an outside auditing firm contracted to establish the paper trail. Carnright said that investigators were able to find discrepancies between records kept by detectives working under Matthews — primarily photocopies of buy money and seized cash — and logbook entries made by Matthews. Other evidence included grand jury testimony by fellow police officers who established that Matthews had sole custody of the funds, thus heading off a potential defense that the thefts were carried out by others. To demonstrate the fraud against Ulster Saving Bank, auditors created a matrix of time that Matthews claimed he had worked either for the KPD, the Kingston City School District or at the Friar Tuck under the terms of a contract between the bank and the KPD’s Gold Shield Society (which Matthews headed). The matrix established that on a number of occasions he could not possibly have worked all of the hours he claimed.
Carnright said throughout the investigation, he received full cooperation from Matthews’ erstwhile colleagues.
“Their reaction was universal,” said Carnright. “It was, ‘Hey, this is wrong and this is a stain on all of us.”
Carnright said he was satisfied that no other police officers were involved in Matthews’ thefts and that the investigation had uncovered the full extent of the misdeeds. An audit of departmental records by the State Comptroller’s Office found much the same thing. Other than a retired detective who was indicted on larceny charges for submitting phony college transcripts to receive reimbursement through an educational assistance program, no one at the KPD has been accused of wrongdoing in the probe.
Record-setting remorse
As for Matthews, he expressed deep regret for his crimes prompting Ceresia to refer to the disgraced detective as the most remorseful defendant he had seen in 10 years on the bench. Kavanagh claimed that his client was motivated not by greed, but by desperation. According to Kavanagh, alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife and six kids at one time totaled $6,500 per month, a sum he likened to “a mortgage payment on a mansion.”
“The motive was survival,” said Kavanagh.
Kavanagh also spoke about Matthews’ state of mind, which he said he had watched evolve from one of shock when charges were first filed, to denial and finally acceptance of his crime and his fate.
“He is one of the strongest people I know,” said Kavanagh. “The inner strength and peace that he has is remarkable.”
