Can you get sued from deleting work emails? What happens if a police report is filed against you?

There is very little you can do at this point, as you have no access to the company server or backup system. If your boyfriend forwarded the emails to his personal email, he should send them to the company. If he made copies of them, he is required to turn those copies over to the company. It is likely he has no right to keep company property, such as company emails, at this point. If he cc'd the owner, he can advise the owner that he cc'd the owner on the majority of the emails, and that the owner will therefore have copies of nearly all of them. If the police actually investigate, your boyfriend will have to answer to why he deleted the emails. At that point, he can then advise the police that it was his understanding that there was no policy against doing what he did, and he thought he was doing the right thing by cleaning up his email account. If, however, the police are involved, I would strongly recommend he obtain an attorney. If the company is in need of the emails, it can seek the assistance of an IT professional who may be able to recover the deleted emails from either an old backup or from the company's server. However, this is not within your power to perform. I'd advise him to be cooperative. Emails contain a lot of information that companies need. Good luck.