WORCESTER, MA – Cyril Gordon Lunn, 69, formerly of Pepperell, Massachusetts, is headed to federal prison after being exposed for a brazen, multi-million dollar bankruptcy fraud. Lunn was sentenced today to 18 months behind bars and ordered to pay $6,339 in restitution after admitting he concealed between $3 and $4 million in assets from his creditors.
The scheme, dating back to the early 2000s, involved the transfer of substantial funds from Lunn’s construction and land development business, CY Realty Corporation, to Canada. From 1998 to September 2001, Lunn systematically moved the cash, stashing it in safe deposit boxes north of the border. When CY Realty and Lunn himself declared bankruptcy in the fall of 2001, these transfers – and the millions they represented – were conveniently left off the books.
But Lunn didn’t stop there. He lied under penalty of perjury in his bankruptcy filings, falsely claiming he’d closed all safe deposit boxes by September 2001. In reality, he maintained access to a box at Granite Bank in New Hampshire, continuing to conceal assets even as the bankruptcy proceedings unfolded. This deliberate deception was uncovered years later, not through diligent investigation, but through testimony Lunn gave in a 2004 Canadian civil lawsuit.
Faced with exposure, Lunn didn’t stick around to face the music. In March 2005, he rented a snowmobile in Maine and made a run for the border, becoming a fugitive in Canada for over a decade. It took eleven years, and a concerted effort between U.S. and Canadian authorities, to finally extradite Lunn back to Massachusetts in 2016 to answer for his crimes.
“This case demonstrates that attempts to defraud the bankruptcy system, and then flee the country to avoid accountability, will not be tolerated,” stated Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb. Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Field Division added that the investigation highlights the bureau’s commitment to pursuing financial crimes, even across international borders. The U.S. Trustee’s Office in Boston and Worcester provided critical assistance.
Following the completion of his prison sentence, Lunn will face deportation hearings, effectively ending his attempts to avoid justice. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Balthazard of the Economic Crimes Unit prosecuted the case, bringing a long and complicated investigation to a close. This sentencing serves as a warning: hiding millions won’t save you from a federal prison cell – or a one-way ticket home.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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