A Berkshire-based biotechnology entrepreneur has been accused of using investor funds – given for technologies to fight cancer – to pay his mortgage, write checks to family members and support his fiancée’s restaurants.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says a civil lawsuit was filed in a Massachusetts’ federal court Monday against Pat Muraca, of Pittsfield. It accuses him of diverting roughly $400,000 of investor money for his two companies, including Lee, Massachusetts-based NanoMolecularDX, for personal use. NMDX also lists Albany, NY and Pittsfield, MA offices on its website.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have filed a parallel criminal case.
Attorney Anthony Doyle released the following statement Tuesday afternoon.
“The charges brought against Patrick Muraca by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are serious and we are responding accordingly,” Doyle said in the statement. “We are reviewing the complaint brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and feel confident that when we have the opportunity to present our case that a very different set of facts will emerge. Mr. Muraca takes his fiduciary responsibilities seriously and we look forward to the swift resolution of this matter. Until we have more information about both the criminal charges filed in New York and the complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, we will reserve further comment.”
Muraca founded the now-defunct Nuclea Biotechnologies in Pittsfield.
An earlier version of this story stated that NanoMolecularDX was based in New York. The company's headquarters in located in Lee, Massachusetts. Its website lists a satellite office in Albany, NY.
