Press Release: 9/1/2026

Former Watertown Housing Authority Executive Director to Repay Funds Stolen from Housing Authority

 



Monday, August 31, 2026



 



For Immediate Release



 



BOSTON – The former Executive Director of the Watertown Housing Authority (WHA) has agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud charge stemming from his theft of more than $6,200 from WHA to fund his master bathroom renovation.



Michael Lara, 41, of Norwood, Mass., was charged with one count of wire fraud. Lara has agreed to plead guilty and entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Under the terms of the DPA, Lara has agreed to repay over $6,200 stolen from WHA, resign from his current position as the Executive Director of the Newton Housing Authority and not commit a new violation of federal criminal law for six months.      



According to court filings, Lara was the Executive Director of WHA and president of both the Watertown Housing Development Corporation (WHDC) and WHDC Holdings, LLC from July 2019 to January 2025. As the Executive Director, Lara had access to WHA’s charge account with Home Depot as well as WHDC’s credit cards. 



According to the WHA policy, WHA credit cards can only be used for the purchases of goods and services that are the official business of the Watertown Housing Authority. Despite the policy, Lara made a series of personal purchases beginning in 2022 using WHA and WHDC funds. Specifically, in 2023, Lara began a master bathroom renovation and used WHA and WHDC funds to buy fixtures for his bathroom, including the following:




  • $322.94 at Home Depot on Nov. 7, 2023 for items including a robe hook, bathroom faucet and towel ring; 

  • $3,160.69 at Moniques Bath Showroom on Nov. 8, 2023 for items including a rain shower head for $443, a shower valve trim for $413 and a thermostatic mixing valve for $488;

  • $1,639.00 at Home Depot on Nov. 13, 2023 for a bathroom vanity and mirror; 

  • $188.00 at Home Depot on Nov. 24, 2023 for items including another bath faucet; and

  • $149.94 at Home Depot on Dec. 4, 2023 for two vanity lights.



To conceal that the purchases were for his bathroom renovation, Lara often caused the purchases to be fraudulently labeled as “705,” to imply that the purchases were for a specific kind of WHA housing called Chapter 705 rentals.



Between November 2023 and January 2024, Lara sent his personal contractor text messages regarding his home renovation, including directing the contractor to install the fixtures Lara purchased at Home Depot and Moniques Bath Showroom using WHA and WHDC funds. On Dec. 17, 2023, Lara sent a picture of his master bathroom to another individual. The picture included the installed vanity lights, bathroom vanity and faucet fixtures – all of which were purchased using WHA’s charge account at Home Depot. The picture also included the shower stall, with the shower fixtures, which were purchased using WHDC’s credit card.



Picture of defendants master bathroom included the installed vanity lights, bathroom vanity and faucet fixtures – all of which were purchased using WHA’s charge account at Home Depot



In 2024, state authorities launched an investigation into Lara’s improper use of WHA funds and sent WHA a series of requests for information. As the Executive Director of WHA at the time, Lara was not only was aware of the requests, he also responded to the requests. This included an Aug. 20, 2024 request for WHA’s policies and procedures governing the use of credit cards; a list of WHA credit card purposes; and a list of all WHA employees with credit card access.



After learning of the state investigation, Lara removed the fixtures that he had purchased using the WHA charge account and WHDC’s credit card. During a federal search warrant of Lara’s residence in June 2026, it was revealed that he had installed a new bathroom vanity, mirrors, shower fixtures and sink fixtures, but had kept the vanity lights.



After learning of the state investigation, Lara removed the fixtures that he had purchased using the WHA charge account and WHDC’s credit card.



United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy Sun of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.

 



Updated August 31, 2026