Moorestown Builder Defrauded Investor in Construction Project: Police

A Moorestown-based builder of custom homes has been charged with theft for failing to share profits with an investor who helped finance a residential construction project in Moorestown, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and Acting Moorestown Police Director Lt. Lee R. Lieber said on Monday.

Massimo Procaccini, 46, of Mount Laurel, was charged with one count of second degree theft by failure to make required disposition.

Procaccini allegedly offered an acquaintance the opportunity to invest in a residential construction project on Borton Landing Road in Moorestown. Procaccini had built the investor’s home in 2008.

The investor gave Procaccini $192,867 for the investment project, and the two were to split the profit equally once the house sold and all construction and other costs were deducted from the total.

Procaccini allegedly built a home on the lot. Procaccini was allegedly present at the closing on the property in May of 2013, and indicated in a notarized and signed statement that no liens or encumbrances existed on the property.

The title agency that conducted the closing didn’t find the alleged memorandum of understanding between Procaccini and the investor. The alleged memorandum had been filed with the Burlington County Clerk’s Office in March of 2009.

The investor allegedly had not been monitoring the property and was unaware that a house had been built until he drove by in the spring of 2014.

The investor approached law enforcement, saying several attempts to receive payment from Procaccini were unsuccessful. An investigation ensued, and Procaccini was arrested at his home on Aug. 15.

He was placed in the Burlington County Jail on $100,000 bail with 10 percent admissible.

Procaccini did business as Massimo Procaccini Home Builders with an address on East Main Street in Moorestown. The case was investigated by detectives from the Moorestown Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit.

The attached image of Massimo Procaccini was provided by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office