Massachusetts police officer, brother, allegedly receive over $36 million in fraudulent obtained funds

BOSTON – A Stoneham Police Officer and his brother, an owner of an electrical contracting company, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly paying a Mass Save vendor company employee tens of thousands of dollars in weekly cash bribes, kickbacks and other in-kind benefits – including a John Deere tractor, a computer, home bathroom fixtures and free electrical work, among other things – in exchange for the procurement of over $36 million in Mass Save contracts with the vendor company.

Joseph Ponzo, 48, of Stoneham, and Christopher Ponzo, 47, of North Reading, were indicted on one count of wire fraud conspiracy and 12 counts of wire fraud. The defendants were arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at noon today.

According to the indictment, Joseph Ponzo, a full-time Stoneham Police Officer, and his brother, Christopher Ponzo, an owner of an electrical contracting company, conspired to bribe an associate employed by a Mass Save lead vendor company (Company A) in exchange for the associate’s assistance in procuring Mass Save contracts that netted the Ponzos millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts.

Specifically, from 2013 to 2017, the Ponzos allegedly paid the associate tens of thousands of dollars in cash bribes, kickbacks and other in-kind benefits. According to the indictment, from 2013 to 2017, Christopher Ponzo paid the associate $1,000 in cash on a weekly basis. At times, Christopher Ponzo allegedly paid the associate $5,000 to $10,000 in cash, telling the associate that the extra money was from Joseph Ponzo for his part in the bribery scheme.

In return for these payments, it is alleged that the associate, among other things: helped the Ponzos create companies; assisted in gaining approval for the companies to serve as Mass Save contractors for Company A; assisted in obtaining Mass Save projects for the Ponzo’s companies; and helped the Ponzo’s receive payments from Company A for completed projects. As a result of the scheme, Christopher Ponzo and Joseph Ponzo allegedly collected approximately $29 million and $7 million in fraudulently obtained Mass Save funds, respectively.

In one such instance, according to the indictment, the associate helped Joseph Ponzo set up a company, Air Tight, to do insulation work and get approved as a Company A contractor under the Mass Save program. Joseph Ponzo put his spouse’s name on Air Tight incorporation documents and contracting licenses in order to conceal his involvement in his corrupt side business. It is alleged Joseph Ponzo collected millions of funds under the Mass Save program through this contract, despite having no professional experience in residential insulation work.

“Virtually every Massachusetts resident who uses energy is surcharged and pays for Mass Save. These payments are mandatory and amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Defrauding the Mass Save program for millions of dollars means we are all left paying the bill,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “As we allege, these defendants, motivated by greed, orchestrated a corrupt scheme to line their pockets with money fraudulently obtained from honest paying energy consumers. These bad actors allegedly took advantage of funds set aside for energy-efficiency projects for their own personal financial gain and, moreover, did so through illegal, preferential treatment. It is corruption at its core and will not be tolerated.”

“Every year, Massachusetts homeowners shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to fund energy conservation projects for consumers—and today we arrested Joseph and Christopher Ponzo for allegedly cheating them by paying a steady stream of bribes and kickbacks to an insider who steered contracts their way,” said Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston. “These brothers allegedly raked in millions of dollars and are now accused of going to great lengths to conceal their bold and brazen scheme. We have said this before, and it merits repeating. If you are a victim of, or witness to a public corruption scheme, it’s never too late to do the right thing. The FBI is here, we are doing our job, and we want to hear from you.”

“Mass Save is all about providing consumers, who qualify in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with low or no-cost energy-efficiency projects for their homes,” said Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston. “The fact that a member of law enforcement who pledged an oath to protect the community allegedly abused this program as a get-rich scheme is particularly reprehensible. Today’s indictment begins the path to ensuring integrity in this program and should serve as a clear warning to those who are attempting to defraud it.”

Massachusetts law requires utility companies to collect an energy efficiency surcharge on all Massachusetts energy consumers. These funds, which amount to hundreds of millions of dollars each year, are to be disbursed by the utility companies to fund energy efficiency programs and initiatives in Massachusetts. Mass Save is a Massachusetts public-private partnership sponsored by various gas and electric utility companies that disburses these energy efficiency funds by funding energy conservation projects for consumers. Under the Mass Save program, utility companies select lead vendors to approve and select contractors to perform energy improvement work for residential customers. This contracting work – performed at no-cost or reduced cost to the customer – is then paid for by the lead vendors with Mass Save funds.

The charges of wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

U.S. Attorney Rollins, FBI SAC Bonavolonta and IRS SAC Simpson made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elysa Wan and Dustin Chao of Rollins’ Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

Stoneham Town Administrator Dennis Sheehan and Police Chief James McIntyre issued the following statement after the arrests:

“The Town of Stoneham and Stoneham Police Department have been informed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of a federal indictment against an active member of the Stoneham Police Department.

“The indictment concerns allegations regarding the employee’s outside business interests, and is not connected to his work as a Stoneham Police Officer.

“As a result of the indictment, Officer Joseph Ponzo has been placed on administrative leave. The allegations in the indictment do not represent the values of the Stoneham Police Department or its members.”