By Dave Wedge and John Zaremba
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — The head of the Boston Fire Department’s embattled training academy — where police are probing alleged misuse of funds — has been placed on paid administrative leave, officials told the Herald.
District Chief Edward A. Scigliano was placed on leave Monday, said department spokesman Steve MacDonald, who declined to say why. ‘We’ve answered the question of whether he’s put on paid administrative leave. We really don’t have anything else to say.’
The Herald reported last month that police interviewed academy instructors and other employees as part of a probe into allegations recruits paid for materials that were already funded with government money, and that a private vendor paid off an employee’s personal credit card.
Scigliano, 43, has been with the department since 1996 and was promoted to district chief in May, but MacDonald could not provide details on his salary. Scigliano received $130,628 as a captain last year, in addition to $50,045 in overtime, according to payroll records.
Efforts to reach Scigliano were unsuccessful, and a union official could not be reached for comment.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has vowed to fire anyone found to have misused money, but a spokesman declined to comment last night.
Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser requested the probe in May — around the same time the BFD was ticketed by Quincy officials for building a two-story house on Moon Island without a permit. The house was to be for training and cost $11,000 from the academy’s lumber account, officials claim.
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