Melrose Man, Four Others Allegedly Solicited Bribes from Logan Cabbies

Melrose's Michael Garvey and four other Massport employees allegedly solicited and took bribes from cab drivers at Logan Airport in exchange for letting them cut other taxis in line, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

The men were indicted Tuesday by a Suffolk County Grand Jury.

• Garvey, 51, was accused of seven counts of soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public employee and three counts of soliciting or accepting an unlawful gratuity as a public employee.
  
  
• Daniel Potts, 47, of Medford, was accused of seven counts of soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public employee and three counts of soliciting or accepting an unlawful gratuity as a public employee.

• Kenneth Clement, 67, of Attleboro, was accused of 11 counts of soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public employee and two counts of soliciting or accepting an unlawful gratuity as a public employee.

• Vadim Mkrtychev, 38, of West Roxbury, was accused of 10 counts of soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public employee, two counts of soliciting or accepting an unlawful gratuity as a public employee and one count of attempted extortion.

• James Mulrey, 45, of Canton, was accused of five counts of soliciting or accepting a bribe as a public employee and two counts of soliciting or accepting an unlawful gratuity as a public employee.

The men are all Ground Transportation Unit agents, or “cab starters,” at Logan.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said the men “exploited a position of power to line their pockets.”

“It’s hard enough to make a living without having to grease a palm or pay a bribe,” he said.

Massport’s CEO, Thomas Glynn, said his agency assisted State Police with their investigation and said all five employees are suspended without pay and will be subject to firing if they are found guilty. “Massport has not and will not tolerate abuse of the public’s trust,” he said.

The men were identified during the course of a long-term investigation by State Police assigned to the Logan Barracks, according to the district attorney’s office. After their arrests on Tuesday, Feb. 12, a number of cab drivers came forward and said that the men had accepted money, cigarettes, scratch tickets and other items in exchange for favorable treatment, such as cutting the taxi line, according to the office.

Additional indictments are possible based on ongoing testimony before the grand jury, Conley said.

The indictments move the men’s cases from East Boston District Court to Suffolk Superior Court. All five men are scheduled to be arraigned Friday, May 24, according to the district attorney’s office.