Details of Comm2A's lawsuit regarding the Massachusetts bonded warehouse scam

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From an email from Comm2A, a Massachusetts non-profit that advocates for 2A:
Comm2A Brings Whistleblower Action against Police & Village Vault
Comm2A has brought a four-count civil complaint against officers of the Stoughton Police Department, Village Gun Shop, Inc. d/b/a Village Vault and Peter Dowd for the improper disposition of certain firearms in the police department’s possession. While trying to assist a former Stoughton resident in recovering firearms surrendered to the Stoughton police in 2015, Comm2A was able to document a pattern of illegal practices by certain members of the department and Village Vault.

Like its federal counterpart, the Massachusetts False Claims Act encourages private citizens to report fraud against the government and to bring civil actions on the government’s behalf. It also imposes significant penalties on individuals and companies that defraud the state.

The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute provides a civil cause of action for activities that are part of a criminal enterprise. While originally intended to fight organized crime, the RICO statute has been successfully applied in other cases where it can be shown that an enterprise has engaged in a pattern of ‘racketeering’ activity over time in violation of federal law.

Count one alleges that by depriving plaintiff Mykel Powell of his property without providing him due process of law, members of the Stoughton Police Department violated his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The second count alleges that members of the Stoughton Police Department and Village Vault defrauded the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when the department exchanged firearms for dollar denominated ‘credits’ and allowed Village Vault to retain the proceeds from the sale of those firearms rather than remitting them to the State Treasurer.

The third count alleges that members of the Stoughton PD and Village Vault conspired with each other to evade the statutory requirement that the Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police auction guns held by police departments for more than one year and remit the proceeds to the State Treasurer.

The final count alleges that Peter Dowd and Village Vault engaged in a pattern of activity over time that constitutes a violation of the federal RICO Act.

You can read the complaint and see an example of the type of transaction at issue.
Complaint:
https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov ... 9.10.0.pdf
1. This case concerns the improper disposition of guns at the hands of police officials
and a gun store in a manner that violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,
the Massachusetts False Claims Act and the RICO Act. The Defendants acted to deprive Plaintiff
Mykel Powell of his property interests in two guns and some accessories without providing him
notice or an opportunity to be heard. Furthermore, this deprivation occurred in the course of an
ongoing agreement among the Defendants to improperly sell abandoned guns for their own
Case 1:18-cv-11336-FDS Document 10 Filed 02/25/19 Page 1 of 18
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benefit—instead of turning those guns over to State Police, for the benefit of the State Treasurer,
as the law mandates. Under the Defendants’ agreement, the gun store and its owner provide the
police officials with dollar-denominated “credits” in exchange for guns, and then sell those guns
for their own benefit.

2. The Plaintiff Relators learned of this improper diversion of abandoned guns in the
related matter Powell v. Holmes, et al., no. 1:17-cv-10776-FDS (D. Mass. complaint filed May 3,
2017). Since filing the instant action, Plaintiff Powell voluntarily discontinued the Powell v.
Holmes action. Plaintiff Relator Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc. provided Plaintiff
Powell with financial and technical assistance as to his claim that Defendants Sergeant Holmes
and Deputy Chief O’Connor deprived him of property interests without providing due process of
law. As a result of this assistance, the Plaintiff Relators learned of the factual bases for the False
Claims Act (Count II), civil conspiracy (Count III), and civil RICO (Count IV) claims asserted
herein, alongside Plaintiff Powell’s original claim for deprivation of due process (Count I).

3. The Plaintiff Relators originally filed this Complaint under seal and served it upon
the Attorney General of Massachusetts pursuant to M.G.L. c. 12, § 5C. The Attorney General has
since declined to intervene.
2006 article that explains the scam. Supposedly nothing has changed since then.
http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_4005304

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