A former Massachusetts police officer and his brother were indicted on several additional charges in connection with an alleged Mass Save bribery and kickback that’s netted an estimated tens of millions of dollars for the pair.
In federal court Thursday, former Stoneham Police Officer, Joseph Ponzo, 49, and his brother Christopher Ponzo, 48, of North Reading, were indicted on 12 additional wire fraud counts alleging that the Ponzo brothers’ bribery scheme continued after 2017 through as recently as March of 2022, with the Ponzos paying thousands of dollars in cash bribes to another former employee of a Mass Save lead vendor company to obtain millions more in lucrative Mass Save contracts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts.
Joseph Ponzo was also included on the list of 15 Massachusetts police officers suspended by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission earlier in January.
The most recent indictment also charges Joseph Ponzo with four counts of causing false tax returns to be filed with the IRS from 2016 to 2019. Joseph Ponzo and Christopher Ponzo were also each charged with one count of making false statements to government officials, officials stated.
The Ponzo brothers are expected to be arraigned on these additional charges at a later date.
Thursday’s charges come months after the Ponzos were originally charged by a federal grand jury in April…
