BOSTON – Frank Loconte, a 62-year-old from Beverly Farms, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison following his involvement in a fraudulent payroll scheme that resulted in significant financial losses for union employees and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper also imposed three years of supervised release on Loconte and ordered him to pay over $4.5 million in restitution alongside a $15,000 fine.
Loconte pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges of mail fraud and failing to pay taxes. As president of NER Construction Management Corporation and NER Management LLC, based in Wilmington, he was responsible for overseeing collective bargaining agreements with multiple unions, including the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen Local Union No. 3. These agreements required periodic contributions to employee welfare and pension benefit plans as well as dues deductions from union workers’ pay, obligations Loconte failed to meet.
From January 2014 to May 2022, Loconte systematically underreported overtime hours worked by union employees and failed to make the necessary payroll tax withholdings and payments. This led to the defrauding of union benefit funds and the IRS, with some employees being paid in cash for overtime and others receiving checks without the proper withholdings. Loconte’s false reporting to the benefit funds, unions, and the IRS resulted in a deprivation of contributions and tax payments totaling more than $4 million.
Loconte’s personal use of NER business accounts for private expenses further underscored the fraudulent nature of his activities, highlighting a severe breach of trust and legal duty.