Rep. Michael DiMassa, a Democrat, was arrested by FBI agents on Tuesday morning and charged with fraud. He appeared in federal court in New Haven and was later released on a $250,000 bond. The lawmaker’s arrest comes a week after the city’s mayor raised concerns about possible fraudulent spending of the city’s share of federal pandemic funds.
DiMassa is accused of creating Compass Investment Group LLC., which was paid $636,783 by the city of West Haven, from February through September, for hundreds of hours of various COVID-19-related services, including lobbying, consulting and site work for clinics, despite never providing any services to the city’s public health department, according to an arrest affidavit unsealed Tuesday.
Bank records for Compass Investment Group, of which DiMassa is one of two principals, show the legislator wrote checks to himself ranging in value from $11,847.50 to $87,650 and made cash withdrawals ranging from $8,000 to $10,000. The dates of some of the cash withdrawals coincided with cash “buy-ins” of chips at Mohegan Sun Casino, according to the affidavit.
Last week, Mayor Nancy Rossi posted a video on the city’s YouTube page saying she had come across several large expenditures that might be fraudulent and had requested a forensic investigation of the city’s spending of federal pandemic relief funds.
West Haven’s share of the $2.2 trillion in stimulus funding from the CARES Act has been more than $1.15 million so far, according to the state Office of Policy and Management.
Charles Grady, a spokesman for the FBI in New Haven, told Hearst Connecticut Media last week that agents visited City Hall on Friday, but would not confirm whether an investigation was underway.
Rossi, who is also a certified public accountant, last week acknowledged using some relief funding to pay City Hall employees overtime for working on pandemic-related tasks, but said that is a proper use of the money. A message was left seeking comment with the mayor.
DiMassa was first elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in 2016, representing West Haven and New Haven. Upon the news of his arrest, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas announced they were immediately removing DiMassa from all committee and leadership assignments. He has been serving as the House vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee and as a member of the Judiciary Committee and Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee.
“Elected officials are rightly held to a high standard of conduct and trust. Even the slightest hint of wrongdoing bruises that trust,” Ritter and Rojas said in a joint statement. “We have significant concerns about Representative DiMassa’s arrest but we don’t have information on the charges or additional details. We will be monitoring this story closely to see when and if more facts emerge.”
DiMassa’s legislative spokesperson referred questions to attorney William Dow. A message was left seeking comment with Dow.
DiMassa is listed in the city of West Haven employee directory as an administrative assistant to the City Council, according to the affidavit. His legislative website says he works as a legislative aide to the West Haven City Council, as well as the Council’s Clerk. He previously worked as an assistant to the mayor until 2013, before being appointed administrative aide to the West Haven Registrar of Voters.
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