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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) – The former head of homeless shelter is facing perjury charges after lying to the state and profiting money from his own improper self-dealing.
Manuel Duran served as the executive director of Casa Nueva Vida (CNV) from 2003 until earlier in 2021. The publicly funded non-profit homeless shelter has locations in Boston and Lawrence.
Duran was sued for using shell companies that he owned and established to funnel more than $2 million in state money for himself. He would purchase these properties and later lease them to CNV at above-market prices and pocket the difference.
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According to Attorney General Maura Healy, Duran was also falsely certifying compliance with state regulations designed to detect the same kind of improper self-dealing.
“We’ve taken action to hold him accountable for allegedly lining his pockets with millions of dollars in state funding meant for the shelter and the families it serves,” Healey said.
The Court has also ordered a freezing of Duran's bank accounts equal to the $2 million. This was done to keep Duran from fleeing the country.
Duran is scheduled to be arraigned on October 20 and could face a long-term prison sentence. Perjury convictions alone can result in up to 20 years for each individual count and Duran currently faces four of these counts.
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