Troca Holdings LLC, Dr. Mitra Das, Dr. Mukti L. Das, and Abhijit (“Beej”) Das (collectively the “Plaintiffs”) have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging a multi-year, concerted series of unlawful and discriminatory practices by The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank.  Also named in the suit are Lowell Five’s CEO and President, David Wallace; Lowell Five’s Senior VP John Pratt, Jr.; lawyers Stephen Brake and Brian Lee with Lowell Five’s Boston law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP; and former Select Board member Richard Reault from the Town of Tyngsborough.

Plaintiffs were owners of a hotel and restaurant located in Tyngsborough, MA that was financed by Lowell Five.  The complaint alleges that starting in 2017, Lowell Five, Wallace and Pratt began a calculated scheme to damage the financial standing, reputation, and legal status of the Plaintiffs that amounted to violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), document and records falsification, racial discrimination, and predatory lending. This scheme, which would accelerate when Troca’s chief executive officer, Beej Das, ran for political office in 2018 and would eventually include the efforts of Brake, Lee, and Reault, resulted in the loss of Plaintiffs’ Tyngsborough asset and in criminal accusations against Beej Das.

The complaint alleges that:

1. Falsification of Documents and Testimony: Lowell Five, its executives and lawyers deliberately falsified important financial documents, bank records and testimony – including to courts and law enforcement agencies – to obtain undue monies from the Plaintiffs and to fabricate evidence to support unfounded criminal accusations against Beej Das. As an example, a Lowell Five teller recently testified under oath that Lowell Five intentionally and repeatedly altered the records of transactions after they had been completed and after the client had left the bank. 

2. Discriminatory Practices: Lowell Five’s actions were fueled by racial biases that fit a pattern of discriminatory behavior by the Bank towards its minority clients, including Plaintiffs. Data from the National Mortgage Database maintained jointly by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau demonstrates Lowell Five has a history of approving and originating significantly fewer loans, and in lower amounts, for minority and Hispanic applicants compared to their white and non-Hispanic counterparts​. In a region with a strong representation of minorities, Lowell Five’s 2017 origination rate for minority applicants was 40% – significantly lower than 69% origination rate for white applicants. Black and Hispanic applicants specifically, fared even worse. Compared to loan approvals amongst community and regional financial institutions serving the same area, Lowell Five’s average approval for its black and Hispanic applicants was the lowest, at $210,000 and $132,333, respectively. The same year, Lowell Five’s average approval for its white applicants was $301,196.

3. Predatory Lending and Fraud: Lowell Five (1) employed predatory, unfair, deceptive, and abusive trade and banking practices, including breaching agreements and refusing to provide promised financing with the purpose of undermining and destroying the Plaintiffs Tyngsborough assets, and (2) leveraged banking regulations to wrongfully implicate Plaintiff Beej Das in criminal activities.

4. Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act: Defendants engaged in a series of coordinated activities that constitute racketeering under the RICO Act; including extortion, fraud, and predatory lending practices, all of which have caused grievous injury and loss to Plaintiffs.

5. Violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA): Lowell Five intentionally misused and abused provisions of the secretive and powerful BSA to fabricate and falsely report suspicious activities, thereby misleading federal authorities and causing significant harm to Plaintiffs. Lowell Five’s violations of the BSA were intentionally and disturbingly discriminatory. Lowell Five treated and reported conduct by its disfavored minority client as “suspicious” to federal authorities while treating similar or more suspect conduct by a favored white client as unworthy of inquiry under the very same BSA regulations.

The lawsuit seeks to hold Lowell Five accountable for its actions and to remedy years of abuse and financial damage inflicted upon Plaintiffs. The severe and lasting impact of Lowell Five’s actions have not only damaged Plaintiffs’ financial interests but have also inflicted irreparable harm on their reputations. Plaintiffs, through a jury trial, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief to prevent Defendants from continuing their alleged unlawful practices.

Plaintiffs are represented by Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP. The case number is 1:24-cv-10931-ADB.

Contact: For further information, please contact Plaintiffs’ counsel: Michael J. Duffy, Esq. of Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP at: mduffy@tddlegal.com or 617-933-9490