Lawrence, Massachusetts mayor indicted over alleged $1.5M COVID loan fraud
The mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, has been indicted on charges that he diverted more than $1.5 million in COVID-era small-business loans to his mayoral campaign, personal tax debt and high-interest mortgages on properties he owned, according to federal prosecutors.
A federal grand jury in Boston returned an 11-count indictment against Brian A. DePena, 61, which was unsealed Wednesday. He is charged with four counts of wire fraud and seven counts of money laundering.
DePena was arrested on a criminal complaint on Aug. 14 and is due to be arraigned in federal court at a later date. He was elected mayor in November 2021 and was reelected in 2025 after previously serving on the Lawrence City Council.
According to the indictment, DePena owned Tenares Tire Services, a tire sales and automotive-services business in Lawrence. He obtained an initial $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan in 2020 and allegedly used most of that money as working capital.
The indictment says DePena sought larger loan amounts in 2021 as his campaign struggled to pay bills, he owed back taxes to the IRS and he faced nearly $900,000 in private loans carrying interest rates of 12% and 8%.
In July 2021, the Small Business Administration approved a $350,000 increase to the business loan. While waiting for the funds, DePena allegedly texted his accountant and financial adviser: “Brother, call me, I’m in trouble. I don’t want to pressure you, but I don’t have time to wait for this loan. I’m in your hands.”
The money was deposited into the business account on Aug. 16, 2021, when the account had a balance of $20.23, according to prosecutors. They allege DePena then used $85,000 to pay personal tax debts and transferred money through personal accounts before writing checks totaling $90,000 to his campaign.
A second loan increase of $1,154,400 was approved in October 2021, bringing the total loan to about $1.65 million. Prosecutors allege DePena transferred nearly all of the funds into a personal account the same day they were deposited and used another $42,112.96 for his campaign.
DePena allegedly used $883,293 of the loan funds to pay off two high-interest property loans. Prosecutors said he made only 16 payments on the small-business loan as of Aug. 5, leaving an outstanding principal balance of about $1.65 million.
Each wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while each money laundering count carries up to 10 years.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
