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Joseph Ponzo, 49, of Stoneham, and Christopher Ponzo, 48, of North Reading, were arrested last year on one count of wire fraud conspiracy and 12 counts of wire fraud stemming from a scheme with a Mass Save vendor, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. They face a charge of lying to a government official, and Joseph also will be charged with filing false tax returns. Dates on when they'll be arraigned on those charges have not been set.
Federal investigators said the brothers bribed an employee of a Mass Save vendor company in exchange for lucrative contracts. Christopher allegedly paid the man $1,000 a week and another $5,000 to $10,000 on occasion on his brother's behalf from 2013 until 2017.
In return, Christopher earned $29 million, and Joseph made $7 million in fraudulently obtained Mass Save cash, authorities allege.
When that employee left the company, the brothers recruited another at the Mass Save vendor with $2,000 in payments, investigators said.
Mass Save is a state program created to help Massachusetts residents get energy improvements at their homes for free or a reduced cost. The public-private partnership is paid for through a state-run fund.
"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 US Attorney for Massachusetts Rachel Rollins in a statement. "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."
Stoneham police placed Joseph Ponzo on administrative leave after news broke last year of his arrest, and he was one of 15 officers suspended from working as a state police officer by the Peace Office Standards and Training commission earlier this year.
The brothers face decades in prison if convicted on all charges and potentially millions in fines.
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