Michigan man indicted on alleged $1M construction fraud of Northampton company

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Staff Report

Published: 05-17-2024 4:48 PM

SPRINGFIELD — A Michigan man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud a Northampton construction company of nearly $1 million, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday.

Jonathan McCormack, 39, of Lapeer, Michigan, was indicted on 17 counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000.

He will appear in federal court in Springfield at a later date.

According to the indictment, McCormack was employed as a project supervisor for BluRoc LLC, with headquarters on Atwood Drive in Northampton. The company specializes in building access roads and bridges for construction projects in remote, hard-to-reach areas.

McCormack also owned and operated JDM Site Services LLC, a Michigan company that rented heavy equipment to BluRoc.

From January 2019 through January 2021, McCormack allegedly devised a scheme to defraud BluRoc by various means, including submitting false invoices for purported equipment usage and by diverting BluRoc labor, equipment and materials for his own personal use and benefit.

To further this scheme, McCormack allegedly overstated both the number of hours the employees, including himself, were working on BluRoc projects as well as the number of hours JDM equipment was actually used, submitting false invoices for inflated amounts.

McCormack allegedly used the proceeds to buy and renovate a luxury hunting lodge, make home improvements, buy numerous snowmobiles, and repay a loan to his uncle.

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Prosecutors say McCormack also directed BluRoc employees to conduct work at his luxury hunting lodge, using materials stolen from a BluRoc worksite.

He then electronically approved the workers’ time and equipment usage in BluRoc’s tracking system, so that BluRoc, rather than McCormack, paid for their work, according to the complaint.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of $920,716, the hunting lodge and six Polaris recreational vehicles.

An attempt to contact BluRoc for comment Friday was unsuccessful.

Maximum penalties for wire fraud are 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The other charge provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Neil Desroches and Steven H. Breslow of the Springfield office are prosecuting the case.