Malden Property Manager Charged With $35,000 Larceny Case: DA

MALDEN, MA — Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Malden Police Chief Glenn Cronin announced Friday that Kenneth Riel was arrested for stealing more than $35,000 in down payments and security despots from 17 people seeking to rent Malden apartments.

The 50 year-old Winthrop resident has officially been charged with 11 counts of larceny of more than $1,200, six counts of larceny, and one count of false entries or omissions into corporate books.

Riel became the property manager of a Malden apartment complex in fall 2023. According to Ryan, he instructed rental applicants to leave the payee and payor information blank when submitting money orders for apartment deposits. Riel then named himself or family members as the payee of all the orders. The crimes were discovered when those prospective renters would return expecting the apartment to be ready. The payments made to Riel were never documented with the management company.

“In this case the defendant allegedly took advantage of victims, many of whom were non-English speaking immigrants, seeking housing,” Ryan said. “Using his position he allegedly took the victims’ money for his own personal use, stealing not only their money but their opportunity to rent an apartment they had been led to believe they had secured.”

Malden District Court Judge Francis Kenneally set Riel’s bail at $10,000 during his arraignment.