Wine, Caviar And Swanky Resorts: MA Man Guilty In 4 Fraud Schemes

MASSACHUSETTS — The operator of multiple Massachusetts sober homes and insulation companies pleaded guilty to involvement in four different fraud schemes involving sober homes, the Mass Save Program, mortgage lenders and a federal loan program meant to assist businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daniel Cleggett, 38, of Kingston, and formerly of Braintree and Quincy, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud conspiracy; one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a mortgage lending business (mortgage fraud conspiracy); 25 counts of wire fraud; six counts of unlawful monetary transactions (money laundering); and three counts of making false statements to a mortgage lending business.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for March 31, 2025. Cleggett was arrested and charged in March 2023 along with co-conspirator Nicholas Espinosa, who pleaded guilty to his role in the fraud schemes on Oct. 3, 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2025.

Cleggett was the founder of the sober home business A Vision From God LLC (AVFG). Established in November 2016, AVFG owned and operated sober homes in Boston, Wakefield, Quincy and Weymouth under trade names including Brady’s Place, Lakeshore Retreat and Lambert House, officials said.

Espinosa managed the day-to-day affairs of Cleggett’s sober home business.

Offcials said Cleggett, Espinosa and a sober home client entered into a conspiracy to defraud a New York-based family trust that was paying for the client’s room and board at Brady’s Place, located in Quincy.

Specifically, Cleggett and Espinosa overcharged the family trust for room and board by up to $12,500 per month by submitting false and fraudulent invoices to the family trust. Cleggett and Espinosa would then issue “refund” checks to the client in furtherance of the fraud scheme, officials said.

From approximately October 2019 to December 2021, Cleggett personally, and through straw purchasers including Espinosa, purchased the three residential properties in Weymouth and Boston to use as sober homes. Cleggett, Espinosa and others submitted false information and fraudulent documentation including falsely representing that the three properties were intended to be purchased as primary residences when, in reality, each was intended to be a sober home.

In addition to the sober home business, Cleggett operated numerous insulation contracting companies that participated in the Mass Save Program: Green Save Energy Corporation; Environmental Construction Objective Inc. (ECO); Green Giants, LLC; and Insulation Situation, LLC.

Mass Save is a Massachusetts public/private partnership sponsored by gas and electric utility companies that funds energy conservation projects and improvements via energy efficiency funds charged to Massachusetts residents’ utility bills. Specifically, Green Save and ECO received millions of dollars for residential insulation work from a lead vendor company under the Mass Save program.

From 2018 through mid-2021, Green Save and ECO fraudulently billed the vendor company for required permits that were not actually obtained. Green Save and ECO were ultimately terminated from participating in the lead vendor company’s program in June 2021, and Cleggett was banned from participating in the Mass Save program.

In response to this, Cleggett, Espinosa and other co-conspirators formed Insulation Situation and Green Giants to enter as new lead vendors with the same company under straw owners. As a result, Cleggett obtained a total of $954,443 in payments from the company to Green Giants and Insulation Situation, despite him being banned from participating in the Mass Save program.

Additionally, on April 1, 2020, Cleggett submitted three Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications to the Small Business Administration for AVFG, the Daniel Cleggett Sole Proprietorship and Green Save.

Cleggett obtained a total of $794,900 in EIDL loans and advances. In the applications, Cleggett falsely denied involvement in illegal activity despite his involvement in the sober home wire fraud scheme and the mortgage fraud scheme involving one of his Weymouth sober homes.

However, Cleggett’s Sole Proprietorship EIDL application was false because the Daniel Cleggett Sole Proprietorship did not exist.

Despite certifying that EIDL proceeds would only be used for “working capital” for the entity seeking the loan, Cleggett used tens of thousands of dollars from the funds to pay for personal expenses including EZ-Pass bills, gym membership fees, pet expenses, airline tickets, car rentals, vacation trips to Yellowstone, Montana and Aruba, and thousands of dollars in hotel resort stays for Cleggett and his girlfriend – which included spa fees as well as a wine and caviar dinner, among other expenses.

Cleggett also used Green Save EIDL funds for $37,997 in wedding expenses.