An investigator for the New York State Labor Department whose job is to weed out wage theft and other labor crimes has been arrested and charged with stealing from the taxpayers he was supposed to protect.
Matthew Bolen, 43, of Canastota, worked a second job while falsely claiming he was performing his duties as a state labor investigator in Syracuse, according to a criminal complaint filed by the New York Inspector General’s office.
Bolen has worked for the Labor Department in Syracuse since 2015 and was paid $94,277 in 2024, according to public records.
He was charged with four felonies – grand larceny and three counts of filing a false instrument with intent to defraud – and official misconduct for a public servant, a misdemeanor.
He was arraigned Wednesday in Syracuse City Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The state Labor Department and the Office of Inspector General, New York’s independent government watchdog, declined to comment about Bolen’s arrest or provide additional details about the case.
“The Department of Labor is unequivocally committed to safeguarding taxpayer dollars,” spokeswoman Christine Buttigieg said in a statement. “The agency takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and will take appropriate action when warranted. The Department does not comment on ongoing criminal or personnel matters.”
Buttigieg declined to say whether Bolen remained on the job at the department’s Syracuse office after his arraignment Wednesday.
The Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office also declined to comment.
As a Labor Department investigator, Bolen is employed by the office’s worker protection division. The division investigates allegations that include wage theft, the illegal employment of minors, violations of farm labor laws, and violations of state laws overseeing working conditions.
A criminal complaint filed Jan. 8 in Syracuse by an investigator for the state Inspector General’s Office said Bolen filed false time sheets with the state during a period from Nov. 14, 2023 to July 27, 2024.
Investigator Joel Mercer alleged that Bolen performed private sector inspection work while claiming he was on the job for the state.
In the complaint, Mercer wrote that Bolen admitted in an interview “that he performed work for the Gardner Group regularly while falsely claiming to New York state that he was performing his state duties.”
Bolen and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment from syracuse.com.
The Inspector General’s office said its charges were based on interviews with witnesses, a review of Labor Department documents including time and attendance records, inspection records received from the Gardner Group and communications from its customers
Investigators said they also reviewed Bolen’s EZ-Pass records associated with his Honda CR-V and license plate.