Ex-homeless shelter head charged with stealing $1.5M
The former head of a Massachusetts homeless shelter stole about $1.5 million in part by secretly renting properties he owned to the shelter at above-market rates, prosecutors said Thursday.
Manuel Duran, 69, then falsely certified compliance with state regulations designed to detect such actions, according to a statement from the office of state Attorney General Maura Healey.
He faces arraignment Oct. 20 on multiple charges of perjury, larceny and making false statements in corporate books.
Duran is the former executive director of Casa Nueva Vida, a publicly funded nonprofit with locations in Boston and Lawrence. It shelters about 150 families at more than a dozen locations.
According to the AG’s office, Duran essentially had control of the the organization’s $7 million budget.
Authorities allege Duran leased four of his privately owned properties and one owned by a relative to the shelter at inflated rents.
“From 2014 to 2021, the AG’s Office alleges that Duran skimmed rent money paid by CNV for a shelter site in Lawrence by using a shell company he set up as a middleman. Authorities allege that Duran made inflated rent payments from CNV through the shell company to the owners of the property and siphoned off more than $1.1 million for his personal use,” Healey’s office said in a statement announcing the charges.
In another scheme, Duran used alleged fraud contracts for jobs like asbestos removal, lead abatement and renovations to divert money to himself.
“The named vendors would cash the checks with Duran present, and provide the cash directly to him,” the AG’s office said.
Duran signed annual disclosure forms under oath that falsely said the organization was not a party to any transaction in which any of its officers, directors or trustees had a material financial interest, authorities said.
The investigation started with an anonymous tip.
Duran’s lawyer, Thomas Dwyer Jr., told The Boston Globe the indictment was “a sad day for my client and his family,” and pointed out that his client has dedicated his life to rehousing homeless families.