A Massachusetts town's city council vice president is accused of stealing funeral pre-payments from his former funeral home business, the Essex County district attorney confirms.
Sixty-five-year-old Robert Scatamacchia of Haverhill was arrested by state police on larceny charges Tuesday morning. He pleaded not guilty in Salem Superior Court and was held on $5,000 cash bail.
According to the district attorney, the Haverhill city councilor was arrested after an investigation over the past 8 months into accusations that he stole 13 funeral pre-payments made to his funeral home, which is now out of business. From these payments, he allegedly deposited over $72,000 into his personal account.
A grand jury secretly indicted him July 1 on two counts of larceny over $250. Scatamacchia will appear in court for a pre-trial conference on Aug. 7.
