Company Owner Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Pension Contribution Reports

BOSTON – Co-owners of a New Hampshire asbestos abatement company have been charged and agreed to plead guilty to making false statements to employee pension plans. 

Richard Quinn, 58, of Sterling, Mass., and Gary McCaffrey, 65, of Salem, N.H., were charged and agreed to plead guilty to one count of making false statements to a pension plan covered by the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISA). 

According to the charging documents, Quinn and McCaffrey owned and operated Absolute Environmental Inc., an asbestos abatement company. Between November 2014 and May 2017, Quinn and McCaffrey continued to employ several undocumented individuals after being notified of their status. During this time period, McCaffrey and Quinn knowingly falsified reports to the relevant pension plans about the work performed by the undocumented individuals, failing to make required pension contributions of over $337,000. 

Pursuant to the plea agreement, the government will recommend a sentence of two years of supervised release, six months of home confinement and a fine of $10,000 to $25,000 for each defendant.

The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Michael C. Mikulka, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Investigations Labor Racketeering and Fraud, New York Region; and Carol Hamilton, Boston Regional Director of the Employee Benefits Security Administration made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of Mendell’s Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.