Former police officer, contractor plead guilty in Mass Save fraud scheme

A former Stoneham, Massachusetts, police officer and his brother, who works as a contractor, have pleaded guilty in a bribery and kickback scheme that netted them millions of dollars in contract payments from the state's Mass Save program.

Joseph Ponzo, 51, of Stoneham and Christopher Ponzo, 50, of North Reading, are accused of bribing an associate with tens of thousands of dollars and other incentives, including a John Deere tractor and free electrical work, in order to get the defendants millions of dollars in Mass Save contracts.

At the time Joseph Ponzo worked as a Stoneham police officer and Christopher Ponzo owned an electrical contracting company.

The scheme centered around scoring contracts from Mass Save, a public-private partnership program between the government and gas and electric utility companies that is meant to help property owners fund energy conservation updates and projects. It requires utilities to collect an energy efficiency surcharge on state energy customers. The funds are then distributed to pay for energy efficiency programs and initiatives.

Under the program, consumers work with a vendor to select and approve contractors for work, which is done at reduced or no-cost to the customer.

According to prosecutors, from 2013 through 2017, Christopher Ponzo paid an associate at one such vendor company $1,000 in cash to approve his company for contracts. He would sometimes offer larger payments or other valuable items on behalf of Joseph Ponzo. In exchange, the associate allegedly helped Joseph Ponzo set up a shell company to be approved under the Mass Save program to do insulation work. Despite having no professional experience in insulation work, Joseph Ponzo made some $7 million under the program.

When the first associate left the company in 2017, the brothers found a new person to involve in their scheme, prosecutors allege. From 2018 to 2022, the brothers paid that person thousands of dollars in cash and hired one of their relatives.

Prosecutors estimated that Christopher Ponzo made some $29 million through the contracts.

Joseph Ponzo is also accused of filing false tax returns between 2016 and 2019, claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in fake business deductions that were actually personal expenses. Prosecutors say Joseph Ponzo used the company credit card at Home Depot to make it appear as a business expensive, but instead purchasing gift cards that he or his spouse then used for personal purchases.

In April 2022 the brothers denied making bribe payments to any vendor employees.

Both brothers pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and 24 counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of making false statements to government officials. Joseph Ponzo also pleaded guilty to four counts of causing false tax returns to be filed with the Internal Revenue Service from 2016 to 2019.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 2025.

The Stoneham Police Department said Ponzo has not worked for the department since 2022 and the charges are unrelated to his work with the department.

"“The actions of this individual are not reflective of our mission or values. It is our duty as police officers to follow and uphold the law, and these actions do not mirror our commitment to those values. As officers of the law, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. Our responsibility as officers is to protect and serve. This criminal behavior runs contrary to our duty to our community and erodes the trust from those we are meant to safeguard," Stoneham Police Chief James O'Connor said in a statement.