Lawrence Mayor Brian A. DePeña was arrested this morning and charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in COVID-19 small-business loans.
Prosecutors said the 61-year-old mayor allegedly used the federal pandemic aid to fund his campaign account, pay personal taxes and pay off more than $880,000 in high-interest mortgages on various properties he owned in Lawrence. DePeña was charged with wire fraud and money laundering and is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston today.
“Mayor DePeña was elected to be a leader for the City of Lawrence. He was looked up to and trusted by his constituents, but he betrayed that trust through his alleged corruption and lies,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley.
Prosecutors said DePeña applied for Economic Injury Disaster Loans in in 2020 and 2021 for Tenares Tire Services, a tire sales and automotive services business he owned in Lawrence. DePeña allegedly caused Tenares Tire to apply for and obtain an EIDL in the amount of $150,000 in June 2020 and used the majority of the money as working capital for the business. However, it is alleged, the mayor needed cash by early 2021 as his mayoral campaign was struggling to pay bills and he owed back federal taxes and almost $900,000 to two private, hard money lenders who were charging him 12% and 8% interest—much more than the disaster loan rate of 3.75%.
DePeña was elected Lawrence mayor in November 2021 and reelected in November 2025. He previously served on the Lawrence City Council from 2016 until 2021.
Thomas Demeo, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office said, “CARES Act funds were created to help small businesses survive an unprecedented national crisis—not to bankroll personal debts, political ambitions or real estate ventures.”
Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, said the mayor used pandemic aid “as his own slush fund to pay his personal taxes, fund his mayoral campaign and pay off $883,000 in high-interest mortgages on several properties he owned. This was emergency financial assistance meant to be a safety net for struggling businesses, not Mr. Depena’s own personal ATM.”
In 2021, DePeña allegedly sought and received loan increase in the Tenares Tire federal loan, first by an added $350,000 and, that October, the Small Business Administration approved a modification to increase the loan by about $1.2 million, bringing the total Tenares Tire loan to about $1.7 million.