Millionaire guilty of false police report

MILLIONAIRE technology guru John J Donovan Snr was convicted yesterday of falsely claiming to police that he was shot in an attack arranged by his son.

Judge Kenneth Fishman found Donovan, aged 65, guilty of filing a false police report, a misdemeanour.

He was immediately sentenced to two years’ probation and a $625 (€463) fine. He must also complete 200 hours of community service.

Judge Fishman called Donovan’s behaviour “bizarre and premeditated.”

Donovan showed no emotion when a clerk read Judge Fishman’s decision, but smiled during sentencing. He hugged and kissed a friend after the hearing.

Donovan claimed he was attacked and shot by two strangers in the parking lot of his Cambridge office on the night of December 16, 2005. He told a police dispatcher that his son had laundered $180 million (€133m) and had threatened to kill him.

But prosecutors argued he made up the story to get revenge against his son and gain the upper hand in a bitter family battle over trusts that may be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Donovan has battled his five children in court for years over the money.

Judge Fishman ordered Donovan to stay away from his oldest son and three daughters, their spouses and their children.

The four siblings said in a statement that they were grateful their father was found guilty.

He is a founder of Cambridge Technology Partners, a computer services consulting company that was once valued at more than $1 billion (€740m). He was also a clinical professor of paediatrics at Tufts University, conducting research to track birth defects.