The former owner of a shuttered luxury home-building business in Massachusetts is facing several federal charges related to an investigation into his business’ finances, prosecutors say.
Kent Pecoy, of Wilbraham, was indicted last week on one count of corrupt concealment of records, with intent to impair their use in an official proceeding, one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, and one count of making false statements in a federal proceeding, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, representing the Department of Justice.
Pecoy, who owned West Springfield-based Kent Pecoy & Sons, allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash between 2013 and 2016 to construct a home. Instead of depositing the funds into his business’ account, Pecoy allegedly took the cash and directly paid the project’s vendors and subcontractors, prosecutors say.
Pecoy, 64, allegedly hid business records — which were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury — reflecting the cash receipts of Kent Pecoy & Sons from between 2012 and 2015 related to that project.. In a response for a request for additional documentation, Pecoy allegedly told officials there were no additional business records.
However, in 2016, federal officials allegedly discovered, during a search of Kent Pecoy & Sons offices, numerous documents related to the company’s receipt and distribution of cash for that project, including ledgers, contracts, checklists and e-mails between Pecoy and the project manager, prosecutors say.
The corrupt concealment of records and obstruction charges both carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years and fines up to $250,000. The false statements charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.
This isn’t Pecoy’s first brush with federal prosecutors. In 2019, Pecoy, his son Jason, and Kevin Kennedy, the former owner of a golf management company, were charged with attempting to defraud the government by allegedly concealing cash payments related to the construction of two of Kennedy’s homes. All three pleaded not guilty in that case and a trial is pending.
— Ted Glanzer
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