Christine Gendron, a 62-year-old former certified public accountant from Longmeadow, was sentenced on July 27 to one year of confinement for defrauding commercial lenders out of nearly $20 million over four years. The sentence, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni, includes six months in federal prison and six months under home confinement with GPS monitoring, followed by three years of supervised release. Gendron was also ordered to pay $392,607 in restitution for bank fraud as her share of the total loss.
Gendron pleaded guilty in June 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Prosecutors said she conspired with her sister Jeanette Norman and brother-in-law Louis Masaschi to provide false rent rolls and forged lease agreements for properties in Springfield and East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, as well as Enfield, Connecticut. Acting as financial manager at LL Realty Developers LLC—an umbrella company owning primarily commercial property—the group submitted fraudulent financial information to obtain loans from banks and commercial lenders.
After securing the loans using falsified documents, the trio defaulted on payments, causing significant losses to financial institutions including two community credit unions and leaving several buildings vacant. Between May 2016 and November 2018, they sought or obtained about $60 million in loans through these actions and caused an actual loss totaling more than $18 million.
Masaschi was sentenced earlier this month to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release; he was ordered to pay full restitution amounting to over $18 million. Norman has pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing on August 11.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division, announced the sentencing decision. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven H. Breslow and Caroline Merck prosecuted the case from the Springfield Office.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts enforces federal laws—including those related to national security threats and civil rights violations—and serves all residents across Massachusetts with offices located at the John Joseph Moakley United States Federal Courthouse in Boston as well as branches in Springfield and Worcester; it employs over 200 attorneys along with paralegals and professional staff while advancing community initiatives on civil rights, according to its official website.