Braintree Man Charged with Stealing Over $122,000 from State Agency

BRAINTREE, MA - A Braintree man stands accused of stealing over $122,000 from the Finance Division of the Group Insurance Commission.

Ennio Manto, 52, was indicted Friday by a grand jury and charged with larceny over $250 and conflict of interest, according to Attorney General Maura Healey. He will be arraigned on a date to be announced.

“This defendant allegedly stole money that was meant to provide health insurance and other benefits to state employees,” Healey said in a statement. “Our office will not tolerate those who abuse their positions for their own personal gain.”

Manto, who was the director of the division, allegedly made two wire transfers to a beneficiary, Seaport Equity, a company owned by Manto. An accountant at GIC discovered a wire payment in June 2015 for $72,342.83 that could not be reconciled with the GIC’s statements and internal documents. Manto allegedly acknowledged that he made the transfer, claiming it was a payment to a health plan administrator for a nonstandard report. Later, the accountant discovered that the required payment was for a different amount and not due for another year.

The transfers were made between March and June 2015, authorities said.

Upon learning that the wire transfer was being looked into, Manto allegedly altered the original printout of the wire transfer by cutting out information related to Seaport Equity and taping in information about the health plan administrator. These documents were later found in a GIC recycling bin. The contract documents that Manto had given to the accountant as backup documentation for the wire transfer had also allegedly been altered.

Authorities allege that a further investigation revealed that Manto made an additional unauthorized wire transfer from the GIC’s funds to Seaport Equity in March 2015 for $50,000. The total amount of money allegedly taken by Manto was $122,342.83.

Information in this article is from the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. Arrests and charges mentioned do not imply conviction.