Prosecutors of Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson ask for evidence to be filed under seal

Prosecutors are asking to release their evidence in the kickback case of Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson under seal, as the voluminous number of documents are rife with personal identifying information.

“The government submits and the defendant does not at this time contest, that good cause exists for the following protective order in regard to certain discovery in this case,” the model language of the order prosecutors submitted Monday evening states.

Federal prosecutors last month said that evidence in the case includes “an electronic database containing more than one million files,” and requested an alternative time schedule to release the evidence in the case.

Now they’re asking for that evidence to be submitted under seal so they won’t have to redact every last bit of “personal identifying information,” or PII, during the discovery process. That includes addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, and bank account numbers, according to the filing.

Fernandes Anderson was arrested at her Dorchester home at around 6 a.m. on Dec. 6, and hauled into federal court in Boston to be charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of theft concerning a program receiving federal funds.

Fernandes Anderson is accused of hiring a relative to her staff and giving this staff member a generous bonus of $13,000 — but under the secret condition that $7,000 tax-free of that bonus be kicked back to her. The feds say the cash was handed over in a City Hall bathroom.

She has been released from custody under standard conditions, which includes surrendering her passport, not leaving the state, checking in with probation, not contacting witnesses and not using marijuana.

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Fernandes Anderson faces five counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, as well as one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, which carries up to a decade in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

She is next scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. for an initial status conference.

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