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Lawrence mayor charged over alleged misuse of $1.5M COVID relief loan

Federal authorities say Mayor Brian DePena improperly obtained more than $1.5 million in pandemic relief and diverted funds to personal and political expenses.

Published Aug 17, 2026, 10:19 AM EDT | LehighValleyLive

Federal authorities have charged the mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, with fraud and money laundering after alleging he improperly obtained more than $1.5 million in pandemic relief funding and redirected much of the money to personal and political expenses rather than business operations, Yahoo! said.