A former general manager of a Massachusetts electrical company has been sentenced for his role in a scheme that defrauded Keolis Commuter Services of over $4 million. John Rafferty, 72, from Hale’s Location, New Hampshire, received a sentence of one year and one day in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Additionally, he must pay restitution amounting to $4,016,087 and a forfeiture money judgment of $893,227.93.
Rafferty pleaded guilty in June 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after being charged in April 2023. His co-conspirator, John P. Pigsley, was charged separately.
Keolis has managed the MBTA commuter rail system since 2014 under contracts ranging from $291 million to $349 million annually. Rafferty served as the general manager of LJ Electric, Inc., an electrical supply vendor that received over $17 million from Keolis between 2014 and 2021.
The fraudulent activities took place between July 2014 and November 2021 when Rafferty and Pigsley executed a false invoicing scheme through LJ Electric. Rafferty used more than $3 million on items for Pigsley and others including trucks, construction equipment like Bobcat machines, home building supplies worth at least $1 million, and a camper valued at $54,000. He then submitted false invoices to Keolis to recover these costs while retaining a profit margin for himself.
In April 2025, Pigsley was sentenced to 70 months in prison with three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution totaling $8,580,311 to Keolis and $2,689,206 to the Internal Revenue Service along with forfeiting three real properties and facing a money judgment of $7,687,083.70.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Kimberly Milka from the FBI's Boston Division; Thomas Demeo from the IRS Criminal Investigation's Boston Field Office; and Christopher A. Scharf from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristina E. Barclay and Raquelle Kaye.