Former State Senator Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Former State Senator Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Former state Senator Christopher Maselli pled guilty today to eight counts of bank fraud in U.S. District Court yesterday. He had been charged with falsifying bank and tax documents and lying about his income and assets in order to get more than $1.7 million in loans and mortgages.

Maselli is a real estate attorney based in North Providence and represented Johnston in the state Senate—a position that he resigned when he announced his intent to plead guilty. There is no plea deal between him and the government.

“I am gratified that former Senator Maselli has now accepted responsibility for engaging in a wide-ranging, criminal bank fraud scheme.,” U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha said. “As I stated when Mr. Maselli was first indicted, this case is particularly disturbing because an attorney, who is trusted to provide sound legal advice and to conduct real estate transactions in a fair and honest manner, used his expertise to fraudulently obtain his own mortgages. Whether the victimized banks ultimately suffered a loss is irrelevant. What matters is that Mr. Maselli’s fraudulent manipulation of the mortgage process exposed them to loss.”
 

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