Indictment charges bankruptcy petitioner with fraud for allegedly concealing real estate assets

A federal grand jury has charged Richard M. Cecca, 53, with bankruptcy fraud for allegedly making false statements and concealing real estate assets in connection with a bankruptcy filing. Cecca, whose address is not reflected in court records, allegedly failed to disclose his ownership interest in about 20 parcels of real estate in Providence and elsewhere.

The office of United States Attorney Robert Clark Corrente announced a six-count indictment, which the grand jury returned on August 2 in U.S. District Court, Providence. FBI agents arrested Cecca in Plymouth, Massachusetts yesterday. He pled not guilty at his arraignment today before Magistrate Judge David L. Martin and is being held in lieu of $75,000 surety bond.

The indictment alleges that, on September 21, 2001, at a creditors’ meeting held under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, Cecca falsely stated under oath that:

· RGM, LLC, a Rhode Island limited liability corporation, did not have any assets, when it actually owned real estate at 12 Halton Street, Providence, 63 Wendell Street, Providence, 208 Admiral Street, Providence, and 14 Hare Street, West Warwick;

· Nu-Future Investment Corporation, a Massachusetts corporation doing business in Rhode Island under a fictitious name, Domani Corporation, did not own any property, when it actually owned real estate at 26 Inkerman Street, Providence;

· he had not had “any ownership interest in any property within the last four years,” when he actually had an interest in RGM, LLC, which had, a week earlier, sold property at 190- 192 Narragansett Avenue, Providence, for about $125,000;

· RGM did not have any assets, when in fact it owned mortgage assets worth about $120,000 secured by nine parcels of real estate in Providence.

The indictment also alleges that, when he petitioned for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in August 2001, Cecca concealed the following assets:

· real estate at 132 Laban Street, Providence, which he owned through Nu-Future Investment Corporation and which was sold the following month for $115,000.

· an interest in Bos-Ten, LLC, a Rhode Island corporation that owned three real estate parcels in Providence and one on Mill Pond Road in North Kingstown.

An indictment is merely an allegation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Upon conviction, each count of bankruptcy fraud has a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, with assistance from the United States Bankruptcy Trustee. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose is prosecuting it. 

Contact: 401-709-5032 Thomas.connell@usdoj.gov

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