Community Corner

UPDATE: Grand Jury Indicts Toomajian on Consipracy, Larceny, Other Charges

Toomajian faces arraignment on the new charges on April 11.

A grand jury has come back with a host of new indictments against Malden Mayoral Assistant Charles Toomajian, according to a statement released late Wednesday afternoon by the Essex County District Attorney’s office. First Assistant DA John Dawley will prosecute the case against Toomajian and several other defendants.

Toomajian now faces multiple charges, including conspiracy, larceny, receiving stolen property and being an accessory after the fact of a felony (larceny).

According to the statement, Toomajian was involved in a scheme with Charles Davis, 44, of Salem, N.H., to embezzle money from Randstad Professionals, a professional staffing agency where Davis worked.

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“Prosecutor Dawley said that Davis was an account manager for Randstad Professionals in Wakefield, which is a temp agency,” read the statement. “In order to pay off his gaming and loan sharking debts Davis allegedly embezzled $1,864,353 from the company. The money would then be laundered through Toomajian, who is an attorney.”

The DA’s statement said the money was used to pay off Michael Petrillo, 56, of Peabody and Joseph Giallanella, 62, of North Andover, both of whom were also indicted on new charges today.

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Toomajian is also accused of stealing $659,525 from Randstad. That money was then diverted through Davis, according to the Essex County statement.

“Davis allegedly paid off loan sharking and gaming debts to Petrillo and Giallanella,” according to the statement. “In addition, as a way of making payments owed, both Davis and Toomajian allegedly paid money toward the mortgages of Giallanella. Petrillo was paid $308,000.”

Davis worked for Randstad Professionals, which was not involved in the scheme and cooperated with law enforcement, according to the DA’s statement.

Earlier today, Toomajian made a brief appearance in Middlesex Superior Court to schedule his next court appearance. The conference took place in a near-empty Woburn courtroom Wednesday morning and took less than 10 minutes to complete.

At the time, Toomajian was charged as an accessory after the fact to embezzlement. The Attorney General and Essex County District Attorney's offices say Toomajian helped conceal the embezzlement operation of Charles Davis.

The original indictment was handed down by a grand jury on Oct. 20, and was against a reputed organized crime ring run by Mark Rosetti of East Boston.

A special judge has been appointed to oversee the different cases stemming from the sting, according to a Your Town Malden article.

Days after the indictment was announced, Mayor Richard Howard told the City Council he in the mayor’s office. The mayor Toomajian’s years of service to the city and personal knowledge of his assistant’s character as reasons for keeping him on the job. Howard did say that he would reevaluate his position as the legal process continued and new facts were made public.


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