No room for corruption in Legislature
Tuesday, state Rep. David Nangle, a Democrat who represents Chelmsford and Lowell, was arrested by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division at his home in Lowell. Nangle was indicted on 10 counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, nine counts of making false statements to a bank and five counts of filing false tax returns, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling.
Nangle has been a state rep for the 17th Middlesex district for more than two decades and still sits on the House Ethics Committee.
According to the complaint, Nangle was deeply in debt, a heavy gambler and used his campaign funds for a variety of personal expenditures, including golf club dues, casinos, hotels, flowers for his girlfriend and more.
According to the US Attorney’s office, he fraudulently obtained loans to pay off debts and fund his gambling and he also received kitchen and bathroom work.
During a press conference yesterday, Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, told reporters that Nangle misled the IRS for personal gain. “In essence he was trying to triple-dip in order to get a federal tax refund,” he said.
“Representative Nangle traded on his political clout by accepting approximately $15,000 worth of home improvement work,” Bonavolonta said. “Including a loan from a Tyngsboro contractor whom he never paid. However the contractor was awarded lucrative bids for construction projects for which Nangle had secured state funding.”
The corruption took various forms, according to Bonavolonta.
“Our investigation also revealed that Nangle was paid $27,000 from a Billerica business owner for real estate consulting services which he never provided. Nangle used that money to purchase a new home after which a businessman agreed to paint several rooms for him for free,” he told reporters.
Obviously, Rep Nangle is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. However, if these allegations are true, the people of Chelmsford and Lowell have been represented in the State House for two decades by a profoundly corrupt individual who used the power entrusted in him to enrich himself in numerous ways.
Each and every elected official and public servant in Nangle’s proximity must declare their condemnation of this behavior loud and clear, without equivocation.
Bay Staters have been wronged. The damage these developments have done to the integrity of our political process will resonate for decades. The allegations outlined by the U.S. Attorney are deeply cynical and dark.
We deserve better.