Pepperell man sentenced to 18 months in prison in bankruptcy fraud case

Hid $4 million, fled to Canada on snowmobile

A Pepperell man who hid up to $4 million from bankruptcy court, then fled to Canada on a rented snowmobile as the law closed in on him, was sentenced to 18 months in prison yesterday.

Cyril Gordon Lunn, 69, appeared in U.S. District Court in Worcester, where Judge Timothy Hillman imposed the sentence.

Authorities said Lunn, a Canadian citizen, ran a real estate and construction business from 1985 until 2001 and in that time squirreled away between $3 million and $4 million in cash that he kept in safe deposit boxes. When Lunn declared bankruptcy in 2001, he failed to tell authorities about the cash.

The scheme unraveled in 2004 when he testified about transferring the money in a Canadian civil suit.

On March 30, 2005, Lunn failed to check in with federal probation officers. Investigators discovered that two days prior to that scheduled check-in, Lunn had left the Caza Manor Motel in Ayer where he was living.

Then, cops in Presque Isle, Maine, were called by the owner of the Sled Shop.

“An individual who identified himself as Cyril Lunn had failed to return a snowmobile, snowmobile suit that had been rented on March 28,” according to an ICE report on file at U.S. District Court in Worcester. The rental agent “was concerned that Lunn, who appeared to be snowmobiling alone, may have been involved in an accident or fallen through some ice.”

Using cash, Lunn had paid $205 to rent the 2002 Ski Doo, snowsuit and helmet, another $500 to cover the deposit, and he bought a $36 pair of gloves. Before he left, Lunn asked the shop’s owner for directions to the border trail, the report states.

“Agents later discovered that on March 28, 2005, Lunn had rented a snowmobile on Presque Isle, ME and illegally entered Canada without inspection via a remote snowmobile trail,” the report states.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police recovered the snowmobile, and helmet, on March 31, 2005, in Perth, New Brunswick. It was in “good working order” and was returned to the shop.

Canadian authorities said the U.S. requested Lunn’s extradition to face charges of bankruptcy fraud in November 2012. In 2014 the court issued an arrest warrant. Lunn was arrested in New Minas, Nova Scotia, but was granted bail and fought his extradition through the Canadian court system. He lost and was returned to Worcester in July 2016.