The John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston. Credit: demerzel21/Adobe Stock
The former owners of a Massachusetts real estate development company and their certified public accountant will be sentenced in January for swindling nearly $20 million from commercial lenders, including two credit unions that lost more than $7.4 million, according to federal prosecutors.
Jeannette Norman and her husband, Mark G. Masaschi, were partners for JLL Realty Developers LLC. Christine Gendron, Norman’s sister, worked as the company’s finance manager.
They conspired to defraud various commercial lenders and financial institutions, including the $738 million Freedom Credit Union in Springfield and the $2.4 billion Workers Credit Union in Littleton, according to court documents. The trio also unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a $400,000 loan from a second Springfield credit union, which was not identified in court filings.
From 2016 to 2019, Norman, Masaschi and Gendron attempted to steal more than $60 million from 20 commercial lenders.
Court records showed the actual total loss amounted to $19,305,473. Freedom CU lost $5,370,037 on a $6,250,000 participation loan and Workers lost $2,043,444 on an $11,500,000 loan, accounting for 38% of the total loss, according to court documents.
To obtain loans, Masaschi, Gendron and Norman provided materially fraudulent financial information, including fabricated rental income and forged lease agreements for properties in Massachusetts and Connecticut, court documents showed.
Masaschi and Norman each pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two felony counts of wire fraud, and Gendron pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston reported earlier this year.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at pstrozniak@cutimes.com.
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