Area man admits guilt over plowing

A Hudson, N.H., man was fined $11,500 after he admitted to falsifying documents in his bid to renew a snowplowing contract with the city of Lowell, Mass., the Lowell Sun reported.

Michael Kazanjian, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Middlesex County Superior Court to charges of providing a false statement to agencies and public instrumentalities departments, attempted larceny by false pretenses, and failure to maintain workers’ compensation insurance.

Kazanjian could have faced up to 2-1/2 years in jail, but a prosecutor argued in favor of a fine, saying an “economic crime” deserved “economic punishment,” the Sun reports.

Kazanjian’s company, CJM Excavating and Development Inc., was paid more than $100,000 for plowing in Lowell during the winter of 2004-05.

Kazanjian admitted to falsifying documents provided for the following winter season, representing that his company had worker’s compensation insurance when, in fact, he hadn’t renewed the policy, and altering another policy to make it appear that it covered plowing when in fact it did not, the Sun reports.

Kazanjian’s brother, Alan Kazanjian, now serves as a city councilor in Lowell but was not in office at the time of the fraud.