Connecticut man gets four years in investment fraud

May 5—A Glastonbury man held civilly liable in 2011 along with former Manchester Mayor Peter P. DiRosa Jr. and others for defrauding a retiree in Maine of $1.4 million, was sentenced this week to four years in federal prison for a separate $6.2 million fraud, the Massachusetts U.S. attorney's office says.

Thomas David Renison, 69, of the South Glastonbury section of town, received the sentence from Senior Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. in U.S. District Court in Boston. He had pleaded guilty in October 2020 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of filing a false tax return.

The judge sentenced Timothy J. Allcott, 65, of Peabody, Massachusetts to 2 1/2 years in prison based on his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the case.

FRAUD SENTENCES

DEFENDANTS: Thomas David Renison, 69, of Glastonbury; Timothy J. Allcott, 65, of Peabody, Massachusetts.

GUILTY PLEAS: Both pleaded to conspiracy to commit wire fraud; Renison also pleaded to two counts of filing a false tax return.

SENTENCES: Four years in prison for Renison; 2 1/2 years for Allcott; three years of supervised release for both.

The victim of the scheme Renison was involved in with DiRosa was Frank M. Jablonski Jr. of Kennebunk, Maine, described by the judge in the civil suit as "an 80-year-old retired business executive in failing health." He invested $600,000 in a ill-fated Hungarian resort-casino project they were promoting in 2008.

Based on other promises made to Jablonski of reimbursement of losses he might suffer as a result of the investment, his total loss ballooned to more than $1.4 million.

By 2014, Maine state regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had barred Renison from working in the securities business, authorities say.

But, in July 2015, Renison, Allcott, and Allcott's "domestic partner" formed a company to solicit money from investors to fund New England small businesses, according to an SEC civil lawsuit against Renison, Allcott, and their company, ARO Equity LLC.

"The three men agreed that Renison would have a 50% interest in the firm, and Allcott and his partner would share a 50% interest," the suit continues.

But because the SEC "had previously barred Renison from associating with an investment advisor, it was essential to conceal Renison's role in the firm," the suit says. So a bogus document said Allcott and his partner owned 95% of the firm and one of Renison's sons owned 5%, the suit adds.

Renison had primary responsibility for soliciting prospective investors, the suit says, and he "preyed on many of his former clients" from a company called Connecticut Financial Group, through with he sold insurance and advised clients on retirement investments.

ARO raised more than $6 million from at least 15 investors, nearly all senior citizens, the suit says.

"ARO only invested about half those funds, and of those investments, the substantial majority yielded significant losses," prosecutor Benjamin A. Saltzman wrote in his sentencing memorandum in the criminal case.

The son of one victim said in a letter to the court that his father considered Renison "a very good and trusting friend.

"After a short time, I could tell he was smitten with Tom — often giving me an account of their various luncheon meetings and such," the man wrote. "Tom became a huge influence in his life — calling my father very often. My father loved the attention."

The man said he and his brother had "deep suspicions" about Renison and Allcott.

"The more we challenged my father, the more he dug in his heels and defended Tom and Tim," the man continued. "This drove an emotional wedge between my father and my brother and I."

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

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