Worcester retirement system C.E.O. abused public funds: Report

• Posted by Worcester News Mar 12 - Filed in News - #Worcester  #Michael Sacco  #Worcester Regional Retirement System  #Office of the Inspector General  - 2,994 views

  
  The offices of the Worcester Regional Retirement System in Auburn (Google)

  BOSTON — A former chief executive officer of the Worcester Regional Retirement System worked extensively for private clients while being paid a full-time public salary of $150,000, according to a report released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General.

  Michael Sacco served as C.E.O. of the Worcester Regional Retirement System beginning in 2020. According to an article on MassLive, "Three years later, during a Jan. 31 board meeting, Sacco, 60, requested to resign rather than be fired after the system’s board questioned his commitment to the job since he was maintaining his law practice while he was in the role."

  The report concludes that Sacco expanded his private law practice while serving as head of the retirement system, often performing work for outside clients during regular business hours and using public resources to do so.

  From 2020 to 2022, Sacco billed his top clients over $950,000 while drawing an annual salary of $150,000, according to the report.

  According to the report, "[B]ased on a review of invoices for Sacco’s top 20 clients (by billing amount), the OIG found that Sacco did not in any way cut back on the amount of outside legal work he performed while he was WRRS CEO.

  "For work performed by Sacco himself, his firm billed those clients for 1,211.5 hours ($302,875) in 2020, 1,314 hours ($328,500) in 2021, and 1,270.1 hours ($330,226) in 2022. Sacco passed up an opportunity to transition case work to his associates during the early part of the COVID pandemic."

  Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said Sacco’s actions undermined public trust in the retirement system, which serves approximately 14,000 members across 100 public agencies and municipalities in Worcester County.

  “Mr. Sacco severely undermined the trust placed in him as the CEO of a public retirement system,” Shapiro said in a statement accompanying the report.

  The investigation began in 2023 after the Inspector General’s Office received a complaint alleging Sacco was conducting work for other public retirement boards during W.R.R.S. business hours while using his public office to handle legal work for his private law practice.

  Investigators found Sacco attended more than 350 meetings, hearings and other engagements for private clients while serving as W.R.R.S. C.E.O., nearly all during the system’s business hours. The report also found Sacco worked only about 20 to 30 hours per week on W.R.R.S. duties while being paid a full-time salary.

  According to the report, Sacco continued representing more than 50 other public retirement boards through his private firm and billed clients for more than 1,200 hours annually during his tenure as C.E.O. Investigators determined that his outside work often took place during the same hours he was expected to be working for the retirement system.

  The report also found Sacco neglected several core responsibilities of the job, including failing to produce the system’s member newsletter for two years, canceling regular staff meetings, and missing investment oversight meetings.

  In addition, investigators determined Sacco did not consistently report absences related to outside work and did not use vacation time during at least 16 days spent traveling to or vacationing in Florida.

  The Inspector General’s Office issued 15 findings and 28 recommendations following the investigation. Among them, the report recommends the W.R.R.S. Board pursue recovery of funds paid to Sacco for vacation time investigators say was improperly claimed and report revised employment records to the state’s Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.

  The report also calls on the Legislature to strengthen oversight of the state’s 104 public retirement systems and urged lawmakers not to pass legislation that would exempt Sacco from limits on post-retirement earnings.