Oswego County teacher charged with stealing more than $4,000 from CiTi BOCES

OSWEGO, N.Y. — New York State Police in Pulaski recently arrested an Oswego County teacher for allegedly falsifying time sheets while working for the Center for Instruction Technology and Innovation (CiTi) BOCES to get paid for more than $4,000 in tutoring work he didn’t complete.

State Police on Aug. 9 charged William J. Fisher, age 72 of Fulton, with one count of 3rd degree grand larceny, three counts of 1st degree falsifying business records, and one count of corrupting the government in the 4th degree — all felonies.

Fisher was an adult literacy teacher at CiTi BOCES in the town of Mexico. During an internal audit, CiTi BOCES found discrepancies with Fisher’s time sheets and notified the New York State Police, who in turn, contacted the New York State Comptroller’s office to partner in the investigation.

Fisher was required to meet with students for tutoring sessions and provide them with work packets. The investigation found that from January to September 2022, he did not provide these sessions to at least three students and instead submitted false timesheets to be paid for sessions that never occurred, according to a State Police news release.

He was allegedly paid at least $4,409 to which he was not entitled, based upon his deception. During the course of the investigation, Fisher was hired by the Oswego Central School District but has since been suspended from that job, the release stated.

“William Fisher was supposed to help adults earn their GED and open a path to greater opportunities, but instead falsified timesheets to line his own pockets,” DiNapoli said in a separate news release issued by his office. DiNapoli partnered with Oswego County District Attorney Gregory S. Oakes, and State Police Acting Superintendent Steven Nigrelli on the investigation.

Fisher was arraigned in Oswego County Centralized Arraignment Part (CAP) Court and is due back in court on Aug. 22.