The former executive director of the Meriden and Groton housing authorities faces federal fraud and money laundering charges after prosecutors accused him of obtaining an unauthorized $16.2 million loan and diverting some of the proceeds to his personal investment account and home mortgage.
Robert Cappelletti, 60, of Middlebury, was arrested Thursday, pleaded not guilty and was released on a $500,000 bond pending trial, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. A federal grand jury in New Haven returned the nine-count indictment Sept. 22.
Prosecutors allege Cappelletti obtained the loan in 2022 on behalf of Maynard Road Corp., a nonprofit that supported development and redevelopment projects for the Meriden Housing Authority, without approval from either organization’s board.
Cappelletti served as the Meriden authority’s executive director from approximately 2009 to May 2025 and as a Maynard Road board member. He also led the Groton Housing Authority from approximately 2016 to January 2025 under a shared services agreement with Meriden.
According to the indictment, Cappelletti signed loan documents on behalf of Maynard Road and pledged the Meriden Housing Authority as a guarantor. He allegedly provided the lender with fraudulent board resolutions claiming both entities had authorized the transaction.
The lender transferred nearly $14 million — the loan proceeds after costs and fees — into a Maynard Road bank account in July 2022, prosecutors said.
Cappelletti then allegedly directed a series of transactions that diverted some of the money for his personal use, including approximately $450,000 deposited into his investment account and nearly $375,000 paid toward the mortgage on his home.
Prosecutors also allege Cappelletti used Groton Housing Authority funds to make payments on the loan, even though neither that authority nor its affiliated nonprofit, Greater Groton Realty Corp., was a borrower or guarantor.
He allegedly told the Groton organizations the payments were connected to an upcoming bond for a local development project and would be reimbursed. Prosecutors said he submitted forged invoices to justify the payments and conceal the scheme.
Cappelletti faces five counts of wire fraud, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and four counts of making illegal monetary transactions, each carrying a maximum of 10 years.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathaniel J. Gentile and Raymond Miller are prosecuting it.
