Former Mass. select board chair charged with cannabis business fraud

A former Grafton town official was arrested Friday on federal fraud charges for allegedly soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars for his marijuana company and using the money to pay off debts.

Bruce W. Spinney III, 49, was indicted Thursday on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conducting an unlawful monetary transaction, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.

Spinney, a former chairman of the Grafton Board of Selectmen, is accused of soliciting the money from investors after resigning from office in August 2019. According to the indictment, Spinney told investors he’d put the funds toward licensure and construction for his new marijuana dispensary venture, Noble Manna Inc., which would have locations in Grafton and Mendon.

However, prosecutors say Spinney immediately used the money to pay down debts for two of his other companies — a linen business and a rental business. The money allegedly went toward payments to debt collectors, outstanding business loans, cash withdrawals, and personal expenses.

The indictment also accuses Spinney of an unlawful monetary transaction in March 2020. Prosecutors say Spinney used the proceeds of the wire fraud scheme to transfer $27,000 to pay a debt related to his rental business.

Spinney appeared in federal court in Worcester on Friday and was released with conditions, Levy’s office said. If convicted, Spinney faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 for each wire count fraud. For the unlawful monetary transaction charge, he faces up to 10 years in prison, two years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.

According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Spinney was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2014 and served for five years before resigning. His departure from the seat came 24 hours before his company was set to ask the board for a host community agreement with Grafton to open a marijuana company in town.

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