A maintenance foreman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a former plant manager have been indicted for accepting illegal payments from contractors, and a third man was charged with making those payments, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.
John Strycharz, 57, of Ludlow, a former physical plant manager, was indicted Wednesday by a Hampshire County grand jury on multiple charges, including procurement fraud and use of an official state position to secure unwarranted privileges, Healey’s office said in a statement.
Victor Rodrigues, 58, of Belchertown, was also indicted on one count each of conspiracy to commit procurement fraud, procurement fraud, and two counts of giving illegal gratuities to a state employee, the release said.
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Prosecutors allege that, from 2008 to 2015, Strycharz hid a financial interest he held in Compass Restoration, a Ludlow-based company owned by Rodrigues that received millions of dollars in contracts at the university.
Strycharz and Rodrigues are due to be arraigned at a later date at Hampshire Superior Court.
Healey’s office also announced that Michael McGoldrick, 50, of Leyden, a maintenance foreman who was placed on leave by UMass, had previously been indicted by a Hampshire County grand jury
He is facing one count of use of an official state position to secure unwarranted privileges and two counts of accepting illegal gratuities by a state employee, according to the statement.
He is due to be arraigned on Aug. 30 in Hampshire Superior Court.
McGoldrick, who replaced Strycharz in overseeing outside contracts after Strycharz resigned from UMass in 2015, allegedly accepted checks totaling more than $17,000 “in support of his son’s auto racing activities,” from Compass Restoration and Dimauro Carpet & Tile of East Longmeadow, the statement said.
In a statement, UMass said it reported the allegations of procurement fraud to Healey’s office, and is cooperating with the investigation.
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“As a result of [this] investigation, UMass took decisive action to address allegations of workplace misconduct involving the misreporting of time and misuse of campus resources,” the statement said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the county from which the indictments were issued. The three individuals were indicted by a Hampshire County grand jury.
Sofia Saric can be reached at sofia.saric@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @sofia_saric.