Swampscott Man Indicted for Embezzlement, Wage Law Violations

A Swampscott man and his business partner are facing 29 counts of embezzlement and wage law fraud related to their now-defunct commercial plumbing company based in Georgetown.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, Keith Rhodes, 54, of Swampscott, and Roy Cheever, 67, of Topsfield took more than $100,000 from the employees of their company, Cheever & Rhodes Mechanical, LLC, claiming that they were investing it in those employees’ 401K accounts; however, no such accounts existed, Attorney General Maura Healey alleges.

Rhodes and Cheever were indicted Monday by an Essex County grand jury on seven counts each of Larceny by Embezzlement over $250 and seven counts each of Failure to Pay Prevailing Wages. Cheever was additionally charged with one count of Failure to Submit True and Accurate Certified Payroll Records.

The Plumbers & Gasfitters Union Local 12 referred the company to investigators, alleging that from November 2010 through October 2011, Cheever and Rhodes underpaid seven of their employees who worked on the Union Crossing project, a public construction project in the City of Lawrence involving the redevelopment of a mill building.

The AG’s office alleges that Cheever and Rhodes falsely took credit for more than $100,000 in wage deductions purportedly to fund employees’ individual 401(k) pension accounts, when no such accounts existed.

The amounts withheld range from $2,000 to $30,000 per employee depending on how many hours that person worked. The indictment also allege that Cheever failed to submit accurate payroll records.

The business, Cheever & Rhodes Mechanical, LLC, was shut down in December 2013, according to a press release.

Cheever and Rhodes are scheduled to be arraigned on Oct. 16.