Fort Lauderdale police officer's pay per year for no work: $110,249

By Brittany Wallman

FORT LAUDERDALE - For almost two years, a Fort Lauderdale police officer has collected a paycheck, pension and benefits — at $110,249 a year.

He has done no work.

Officer Sharif Samer Masri's job since October 2006: stay home, check in with the police department every day and take no "official police action." He can't wear a police uniform, carry a gun, drive a cruiser or enter the department without an escort, city records show.

Masri's wife, Amy Kienast Masri, was the target of a criminal investigation into allegations she bilked the city police health insurance fund. Amy Masri, a dentist, was sentenced in May. The police department is still looking at Sharif Masri and could discipline him in the case. But he was cleared in June of any criminal wrongdoing, by the State Attorney's Office.

"They could have put him to work and they should have put him to work," said his attorney, Alberto Milian. "I think the taxpayers were done a disservice."

Masri's lengthy paid leave is not the norm, police department spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa acknowledged. But it's not often that a police officer and his wife are under criminal investigation. Because of that, Sousa said, the department didn't want Masri doing any police work, not even filling out police reports at the station.

"Because of the allegation, there was nothing else he could have done," Sousa said.

Masri, 32 and a 10-year employee, remains on paid leave while the city looks at any policy violations, Sousa said. The city's threshold for evidence of a policy violation is lower than that of the State Attorney for criminal charges.

The paid time off for Masri surpassed the $200,000 mark this summer.

The criminal case against his wife, meanwhile, was settled for $16,000. Amy Masri, who is a licensed provider for insured police union members, was found by the State Attorney's Office to have billed for dental work she didn't perform, including eight fillings she claimed to have put in her husband's teeth.

They got a search warrant for his teeth. A dentist took a look, and found the eight teeth were "virgin," records say — meaning no fillings.

"The question was whether he was involved when she billed and got the money," said assistant state attorney David Schulson, who handled that part of the investigation.

Masri testified that he didn't know his wife filed the fake bill, and didn't know she received $2,755 for eight non-existent fillings.

Masri was cleared of grand theft on June 3.

His wife, meanwhile, accepted a plea deal arranged by Al Guttmann in the State Attorney's Office. She pleaded no contest in May to third-degree grand theft and practicing dentistry without a license after it was suspended during the investigation in 2007. She was adjudicated guilty of both felonies and sentenced to five years' probation. She has to pay the police health fund $16,000 in restitution.

Masri's lawyer, Milian, said the police department is prolonging the paid suspension to punish Masri for what Amy Masri did. "At the end of the day we can't be held responsible for what our spouses do," he said.

Sousa said the Police Department could close its case as soon as next week.