BOSTON –

A Boston city councilwoman was arrested by FBI agents Friday morning after she was charged in connection with an alleged kickback scheme in which she collected thousands of dollars in cash from an employee in exchange for a large reward.

Councilwoman Tania Fernandes Anderson represents District 7 in Boston, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End.

5 Investigates was outside her Dorchester home Friday when FBI agents arrested her around 6 a.m

According to court documents, Fernandes Anderson faces five federal counts of wire fraud and one federal count of theft related to programs receiving federal funds.

“These six felony charges stem from an alleged kickback scheme she orchestrated to obtain several thousand dollars in taxpayer money in return for a bribe she paid to an employee who awarded her a very large bonus,” said U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.

Fernandes Anderson is expected to appear in federal court Friday afternoon.

According to a federal indictment, Fernandes Anderson gave “Employee A” additional bonus money with the understanding that the employee would return some of the money to the City Council. That employee was a relative of Fernandes Anderson, which the city council lied about, investigators said.

Because information about staff bonuses is publicly available, Fernandes told Anderson that the larger bonus for Employee A was to compensate her for previous volunteer work, court documents say.

Video: Investigators investigate suspected bribery fraud by a city councilor

The $13,000 bonus for Employee A was more than double the amount given to other employees, investigators said.

“But there was a catch to this outsized bonus. Ms. Fernandez Anderson told Employee A she had to pay back over $7,000 in cash to Ms. Fernandez Anderson. Employee A agreed,” Levy said.

According to the indictment, as part of several bank transactions in June 2023, the employee withdrew $7,000 from the deposited bonus payout. This money was then secretly handed over to Fernandes Anderson on June 9, 2023, the indictment states.

“At approximately 4:11 p.m., Employee A texted FERNANDES ANDERSON entitled “Bathroom” to let FERNANDES ANDERSON know that Employee A was waiting in the bathroom to give FERNANDES ANDERSON the $7,000 in cash. Within seconds, FERNANDES ANDERSON texted Employee A “Ready” to confirm that FERNANDES ANDERSON was ready to accept Employee A’s $7,000 cashback. Shortly after these text messages, “Employee A handed FERNANDES ANDERSON approximately $7,000 in cash at a bathroom at City Hall,” the indictment states.

Read the full indictment here.

Officials said the investigation was ongoing and no one else had been charged.

Earlier this week, Fernandes Anderson said she wanted to be transparent with her constituents but declined to comment on specifics.

“I have no comment. You know exactly why I can’t comment,” Fernandes Anderson told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

In 2023, the state Ethics Commission found that Fernandes Anderson had violated the conflict of interest law by employing her sister and son at City Hall and increasing their salaries to $70,000 per year. Fernandes Anderson agreed to pay a $5,000 fine.

Investigators said Friday that the relative involved in the kickback scam was hired after the ethics penalty was imposed on her and that a plan was hatched to pay the penalty.

“Ms. Fernandez Anderson chose to breach her fiduciary duty and defraud the city of Boston, the indictment states, rather than find a legal way to discharge this debt,” Levy said.

Last month, the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance sent her campaign a letter saying she had failed to submit deposit information on time and had accepted donations beyond the legal limit.

“I’m not thinking about quitting. I’m not thinking about resigning. I don’t think about it. I think about work and move on,” she said Wednesday.

Fernandes Anderson has represented District 7 since 2021 and won re-election in 2023.