Mass. man accused of defrauding investors in house-flipping scheme
Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin has charged a Milton, Mass., man with using a fraudulent house-flipping scheme to convince friends and investors to lend him money that he then used on restaurants, hotels and groceries. Galvin's office, which is charged with enforcing the state's securities law, said Ricardo “Rick” Bernard never spent the money on improving the homes – located in Milton, West Roxbury, Taunton, Stoughton and Brockton – and instead rented them out and let them fall into foreclosure.