Somerset man sentenced to prison for illegal participation in bank loan

BOSTON – A Somerset man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Springfield for illegally participating in a loan with a financial institution.

Anthony Riccitelli, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to four months in prison. In September 2019, Riccitelli pleaded guilty to one count of participation in a loan with a financial institution.

Riccitelli admitted that he loaned $80,000 to Diecast Connections Company, Inc., based in Chicopee, at the same time that he served as a bank officer for Blue Hills Bank. Riccitelli proposed that Blue Hills Bank enter into a $4.2 million loan package with Diecast without disclosing to Blue Hills Bank the $80,000 in private loans he had made to Diecast. Shortly after the closing on the loan, Riccitelli received $80,000 of the loan proceeds, unbeknownst to Blue Hills Bank.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.