U.S. Congressman John Olver was a prosecution witness at the federal trial of a Canadian scientist convicted of ripping off $700,000 in transportation funds Olver helped to secure.
A former Massachusetts scientist and businessman was convicted in federal court on Tuesday of conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with funds he siphoned from a multi-million federal research grant earmarked to develop battery-powered buses.
Christopher D. Willson, a Canadian resident who was once chief scientist and senior vice president of EV Worldwide, a former Pittsfield-based company, was convicted of conspiracy and six counts of wire fraud and acquitted of three counts of fraud and other charges after a trial in U.S. District Court in Boston.
The company was founded by Michael J. Armitage, an energy-focused entrepreneur who once owned Berkshire Power in Agawam and has backed various other power projects.
Testimony showed the bus venture tanked before yielding a product but the taxpayer funds paid a $250,000 salary to Armitage and $100,000 to Willson while the two launched a separate Canadian research company with another $110,000.
The Federal Transit Administration provided $4.3 million for the project, which was funneled through the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority. The grant required EV Worldwide to match each grant dollar with its own money, according to testimony.
“From 2004 to 2005, Willson submitted 10 fraudulent invoices in which he falsely claimed that EVW was matching the (federal) funds, when in fact, EVW was millions of dollars in debt and had nearly no other non-public source of funds,” according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Willson and Armitage were originally charged together in U.S. District Court in Springfield but the defendants were separated as Armitage faced a complicated set of tax fraud charges that excluded Willson.
Armitage, once a political gadfly, fund-raiser and frequent presence on Springfield’s club scene, pleaded guilty in October to failing to file tax returns for 13 years, bank fraud and the federal grant fraud. He is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 26 in Springfield.
Armitage, who now lives in Florida, did not testify at Willson’s trial.
However, U.S. Congressman John D. Olver, D-Amherst, was among the prosecution witnesses and told jurors he helped secure the funds and fully expected to see a clean energy bus, not a criminal indictment, as the result.
Willson faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each of the fraud counts. He is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 6 in Boston.