Middlebury Resident Arrested On Fraud, Money Laundering Offenses: Feds

MIDDLEBURY, CT — The former executive director of the Meriden and Groton housing authorities was arrested Thursday on fraud and money laundering offenses, according to officials.

Robert Cappelletti, 60, of Middlebury, has been charged in a nine-count indictment with fraud and money laundering offenses related to his time as the executive director of housing authorities in Meriden and Groton, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David X. Sullivan announced.

A federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment on Sept. 22 charging Cappelletti with five counts of wire fraud and four counts of making illegal monetary transactions.

Cappelletti appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven, pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment, and was released on a $500,000 bond pending trial.

Prosecutors said that from approximately 2009 to May 2025, Cappelletti served as the executive director of the Meriden Housing Authority (“MHA”), which provides public housing for low-income families in Meriden, and as a board member of the Maynard Road Corporation (“MRC”), a non-profit corporation that supported development and redevelopment projects for the MHA.

From approximately 2016 to January 2025, as part of a shared services agreement with the Meriden Housing Authority, Cappelletti also served as the executive director of the Groton Housing Authority (“GHA”), which provides public housing for low-income families in Groton.

“In 2022, Cappelletti fraudulently borrowed $16,200,000 from a victim lender, purportedly on behalf of the MRC,” officials wrote in a news release. “As part of the loan transaction, Cappelletti executed a promissory note on behalf of the MRC and a guarantee of the promissory note on behalf of the MHA without obtaining authorization from either entity’s board of directors. Cappelletti falsely represented to the lender that the MRC and the MHA authorized the loan transaction, which he substantiated with fraudulent resolutions from the MRC and the MHA purporting to authorize the loan.”

The indictment alleges that, in July 2022, the victim lender wired $13,961,750, which represented the amount of the loan after costs and fees, into an MRC bank account, according to officials.

“Thereafter, Cappelletti directed a series of financial transactions designed to enrich himself and conceal his fraudulent conduct,” officials wrote. “Through those transactions, Cappelletti converted a portion of the money for his own use, including depositing approximately $450,000 into his personal investment account and paying $374,752.87 toward the mortgage on his personal residence.

“The indictment further alleges that even though the GHA and the Greater Groton Realty Corporation (“GGRC”), a non-profit corporation that supports development and redevelopment projects for the GHA, were not parties or guarantors of the loan, Cappelletti used his position as GHA’s executive director to direct a series of payments toward the loan using GHA funds. Cappelletti misrepresented to the GHA and GGRC that the payments were related to a forthcoming bond for a development project in Groton and would be reimbursed, and he submitted forged invoices to justify the payments and conceal his scheme.”

Wire fraud carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison on each count, and making illegal monetary transactions carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count, according to officials.