Secretary of State William Galvin charged a Milton man with defrauding investors – many of whom were friends and acquaintances – by convincing them to loan him money in fraudulent house-flipping schemes.

Ricardo Bernard, operating under a company named Kiacell LLC, is accused of taking money from investors to buy, renovate and rent homes, repaying investors with proceeds from the rental and eventual sale of the homes. After taking the title to the homes, Bernard allegedly did not renovate them and kept the rental income.

It’s not the first time Bernard has run afoul of the law. According to the complaint, “As a landlord, Bernard has been sued by at least one municipality for illegal unsanitary conditions at his property. In at least one case, Bernard has received Section 8 housing rental subsidies for a tenant purportedly living at a property to which Bernard did not hold title.”