East Boston Landlord Arraingned on Eight Charges of Pandemic Fraud

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) today announced that a landlord with properties in Boston, Revere, and Chelsea was arraigned on eight charges related to fraudulent pandemic-era emergency assistance applications. According to the AGO, Steven Stoico orchestrated seven false applications for emergency rental assistance on various dates in 2021, fraudulently obtaining $95,400 and unsuccessfully attempting to obtain an additional $136,200.

According to the AGO, Stoico was named as the landlord of 249 Maverick Street in East Boston in six of the seven fraudulent applications. Three of those six applications were granted, and three were denied. An investigation revealed that the purported tenants listed in these applications either never lived in the reported apartment unit or lived there for a different time period than claimed in the application. In one instance, the reported tenant was actually incarcerated for a portion of the claimed tenancy. In another instance, the reported tenant was subject to GPS-monitoring and the GPS data revealed that for four months of the time for which rental assistance was sought, the reported tenant was in East Boston for only three minutes.

The AGO believes Stoico fabricated supporting documents including leases and rental ledgers to aid him in his scheme. In some instances, Stoico is alleged to have shared some of the fraudulently obtained assistance money with the falsely listed tenants.

In addition to the six applications naming Stoico as landlord, Stoico and his co-defendant Maria Grasso allegedly collaborated to file two duplicative applications for rental assistance, falsely naming Stoico as the rental tenant of Grasso’s husband. Both applications alleged a total of $30,600 in arrears, and both were denied.

Stoico is charged with three counts of larceny over $1,200, four counts of attempted larceny over $1,200, and one count of solicitation to commit larceny over $1,200. Grasso is charged with one count of attempted larceny and one count of conspiracy to commit larceny.

This matter was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Mindy Klenoff, Christina Lindberg, and Richard Langweber of the AGO’s White Collar and Public Integrity Division with investigative assistance from the Office of the Inspector General.