Massport official fined for ethics violation

A Massachusetts Port Authority worker who operated a private tax preparation business out of his office has been fined $7,000 by the state Ethics Commission.

According to an agreement released today, William Lynch, a business analysis manager at Massport, prepared nearly 200 tax returns from his Massport office during the 2005 and 2006 tax seasons. He spent about 12 hours a week on it after hours, between February and April, according to the ethics commission.

This violated a section of the state ethics law that prohibits public employees from using their position to gain privileges not available to others.

Massport suspended Lynch for a week for inappropriate computer usage.