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John Bernardo, age 65, was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 4, on a federal criminal complaint charging him for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the City of West Haven, said Leonard Boyle, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Bernardo surrendered to law enforcement on Thursday and was released on a $250,000 bond.
As alleged in the complaint, Bernardo, of West Haven, has been employed by the City of West Haven as a Housing Specialist in the office of the Community Development Administration.
Michael DiMassa was employed as an Administrative Assistant to the City Council and was a Connecticut State Representative elected to represent West Haven and New Haven.
In January, DiMassa and Bernardo formed Compass Investment Group.
Beginning in February, Compass Investment Group fraudulently billed the City of West Haven and its “COVID-19 Grant Department” for consulting services purportedly provided to the West Haven Health Department that were not performed, the complaint said.
From February through September, the City of West Haven paid Compass Investment Group a total of $636,783.70. It is alleged that Bernardo received at least $45,000 of these funds.
Bernardo was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Both offenses carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
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