Lawrence City Council Meets After Mayor's Arrest Over $1.5 Million COVID Loan Misuse

3 articles · Updated · WCVB Boston · Aug 18

$1.5 million in alleged COVID-19 loan misuse hangs over Tuesday's Lawrence City Council meeting, the first since Mayor Brian DePeña was arrested Friday.
Federal investigators say DePeña used low-interest disaster loans tied to his tire business to finance his political campaign, pay personal tax bills and cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate debt.
FBI agents took DePeña into custody after prosecutors accused him of defrauding a pandemic relief program meant to keep small businesses afloat.
DePeña, elected mayor in 2021 and reelected in 2025, does not plan to step down, leaving the council meeting as the city's first public response to the case.

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Why did it take federal agents years to discover that emergency COVID survival loans were actually bankrolling a mayoral campaign?

Could the secret audio recordings seized from City Hall expose even more accomplices in the massive pandemic fraud scandal?

How will a mayor facing decades in prison and a separate secret recording probe continue to govern his city?