PROVIDENCE – A self-employed contractor from North Kingstown will serve three years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and a host of other charges.
Ernest P. Ricci, 62, was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court and also ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to the government. He pleaded guilty in November 2023 to what prosecutors described as multiple schemes to conceal assets collected from fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
Ricci also admitted he failed to disclose he had rental properties in both Florida and New Hampshire and that he engaged in money laundering to hide the funds he received from the government-backed programs.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Cunha said that in October 2017 Ricci transferred all of the assets of his business, Premier Home Restoration LLC, to his wife prior to filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. This was an attempt to protect a $1.5 million dollar home in Florida that both he and wife rented out and used as a vacation home, despite failing to make any mortgage payments on the property over the last five years.
In addition to that home, Ricci failed to disclose another rental property he owned in New Hampshire, which also generated rent payments.
Ricci also admitted that he submitted false documents to the bankruptcy court, claiming he had no income, no bank accounts or other assets or properties other than the Florida home. During this time, he continued to run Premier’s day-to-day operations and used that income to support his lifestyle.