Docs: DiMassa allegedly billed $100K for lobbying
WEST HAVEN — Former state Rep. Michael DiMassa — arrested last week on federal wire fraud charges related to use of federal COVID funds — allegedly claimed on invoices he submitted to the city that a company he formed that received $636,000 in federal money was involved in lobbying activities.
The documents do not specify who would have done the lobbying for DiMassa’s Compass Investment Group LLC and federal authorities allege none of the work for which invoices were submitted was done, and state law also prohibits any member of the General Assembly from acting as a lobbyist.
According to city documents obtained by the New Haven Register, the company DiMassa, 30, and a second person, formed in January, Compass Investment Group LLC, submitted tens of thousands of dollars of invoices for what was claimed to be lobbying activities on a multiple occasions, among other claimed work. The total submitted for lobbying was more than $100.000, records show.
Finance Director Frank Cieplinski did not respond to requests for comment on why the city would be willing to pay for purported lobbying services during the pandemic. City Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan, for whom DiMassa also worked, declined to comment.
But Mayor Nancy Rossi, asked about the charges Tuesday, said, “We wouldn’t need them to lobby for anything.”
“Unbelievable,” she said. “Unbelievable — it just gets worse and worse and worse. That’s why I can’t wait for them to complete the audits . ... To the best of my knowledge, I have no idea what we would need a lobbyist for.
“It is amazing that he (allegedly) did this,” Rossi said. “Hopefully the investigation will be swift . ... It’ll be better for West Haven once it’s over. People keep asking me, ‘do we have to pay the money back?’ And I don’t know the answer to that.”
According to the state, federal CARES Act funding could be used for: “medical expenses, public health expenses, payroll for public safety, public health, health care, human services, and similar employees substantially devoted to mitigating or responding to COVID-19, compliance with public health measures, economic support, recovery planning, assisting individuals with enrolling in government benefit programs, and any other COVID-19related expenses reasonably necessary to the function of government that satisfy the CRF’s eligibility criteria.”
Among other alleged expenditures spelled-out in meticulously-detailed purchasing documents the Register received through a request under the state Freedom of Information Act, Compass was paid:
— $48,400 for what it claimed was “Lobbying Service - COVID-19 Federal” — billed at $200 an hour for 242 hours — as part of an overall $84,650 payment on May 17, 2021. — $20,400 for what it claimed as “Consulting Service - Lobbying Service COVID-19 — billed at $200 an hour for 102 hours — as part of an overall $85,595 payment on June 6, 2021.
— $36,000 for what it again claimed as “Lobbying Service - COVID-19 Federal” — billed at $200 an hour for 180 hours — as part of an overall $85,225 payment it received on June 16, 2021.
The three dates represent just a portion of the overall services Compass billed the city for, which totaled $638,781 over the past several months.
DiMassa, D-West Haven, was arrested Wednesday on a federal criminal complaint charging him with one count of wire fraud in connection with what authorities say was a scheme to steal federal funds intended for COVID-related expenses. The affidavit filed in support of DiMassa’s arrest alleges that charges he submitted for payment were phony.
According to investigators, DiMassa allegedly abused his position as an administrative assistant in West Haven City Hall to transfer more than $636,000 of federal pandemic relief funding to a business bank account, which he then used to purchase chips at Mohegan Sun for gambling purposes.
DiMassa resigned his city job as executive assistant to the City Council on Thursday. He resigned his state legislative seat on Monday.
Among the other charges included in Compass’ invoices for the same dates were:
— $26,250 for “Consulting Service - Legislative Review Opening guidelines,” $1,500 for “Consulting Service - Support Staff Service” and $8,500 for “Economic Consulting — Economic Site Plan Assessment/Review on May 17, 2021.
— $53,375 for “Consulting Service - Legislative Review Executive Orders - COVID-19,” $7,245 for “Consulting Service - Support Staff Services” and $4,575 for “Monitors/Security Site - Clinic site (April/21May/21) on June 6, 2021.
— $35,875 for “Consulting Service - Legislative Review Opening Guidelines,” $1,875 for “Support Staff Services” and $11,475 for “Economic Consulting - Economic Site Plan Assessment/Review” on June 16, 2021.
Republican mayoral candidate and City Council member Barry Lee Cohen Tuesday called on the City Council to form an independent committee to investigate the scandal. “Now is the time for immediate action. All eyes are on us, and history will judge us on how we respond to this scandal. At this moment in time, more than ever before, our city needs its City Council to come together, put party labels aside, and fulfill our oath of office.”
Peter Lewandowski, executive director of the Connecticut Office of State Ethics, said the state’s threshold for what’s considered lobbying is if someone is paid more than $3,000 over the course of a year for lobbying activities.
It doesn’t matter whether the person actually did lobbying work if it involved state government, Lewandowski said.