In the following press release Paula D. Silsby, United States Attorney for the District of Maine, Peter W. Heed, Cheshire County Attorney, Holly Fraumeni, Resident Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service in New Hampshire, Robert W. Malaby, Acting Postal Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Susan Dukes, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s, Criminal Investigation Division in Boston, announced that Thomas J. Tessier, 71 of Manchester, New Hampshire, has been charged with mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

According to charges filed by prosecutors in United States District Court in Concord, while Tessier was a practicing lawyer he used fraudulent powers of attorney and other dishonest means for the purpose of stealing:

• more than $295,000 from bank accounts that belonged to a deceased client whose estate Tessier was appointed to administer
• more than $200,000 from the client’s oldest son by selling a home that belonged to him, without his knowledge or consent
• more than $240,000 from two investment accounts that belonged to the client’s oldest son
• more than $198,000 from a life insurance policy the client had purchasedfor the benefit of the two sons.

Prosecutors have also alleged that Tessier committed bank fraud by using fraudulent powers of attorney and other dishonest means to withdraw more than $1.4 million from bank accounts:

• the client held in trust for the sons
• the client jointly owned with the oldest son
• that were owned by the oldest son
• the oldest son held in trust for his younger brother, who is disabled.

The charges also allege that Tessier committed money laundering by depositing to his law firm’s client trust bank account more than $176,000 that was stolen from a bank account, issued a $100,000 check from the client trust bank account and deposited that check to one of his personal bank accounts.

The maximum prison sentence for mail fraud is twenty years, the maximum prison sentence for bank fraud is thirty years and the maximum prison sentence for the money laundering offense that is charged in this case is ten years.

The case was investigated by Special Agents from the United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspectors from the United States Postal Inspection Service and Special Agents from the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.

The prosecution of this case is being supervised by the United States Attorney for the District of Maine, Paula D. Silsby, on account of the recusal of the United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire.