April trial date set for former Malden mayor's aide accused of money laundering

Charles Toomajian, right, with his attorney at a 2011 hearing in Middlesex District Superior Court. He is accused of laundering $1.86 million.

By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent

Charles Toomajian, the former aide to Malden Mayor Richard C. Howard, will be tried in April on charges that he laundered $1.86 million in connection with an alleged organized crime ring.

Toomajian, 54, is charged with larceny, being an accessory after the fact, and conspiracy. He is due back in Middlesex Superior Court April 4 for a final hearing before his trial, slated to begin April 16.

According to prosecutors, Toomajian played a key role in a scheme to launder money stolen by a second defendant, Charles Davis, from a Wakefield staffing company where Davis worked.

According to prosecutors Davis, alleged to be a frequent and heavy gambler, had large debts owed to Joseph Giallanella, who investigators said is a North End bookmaker connected to the criminal organization of Mark Rossetti and is also under indictment.

Davis worked for Randstad, a multinational staffing agency, where he had access to the corporate checkbook. In the normal course of his job, Davis would reconcile accounts of Randstad clients, which often necessitated he cut checks for several thousands of dollars, according to court records.

Davis allegedly wrote illegitimate checks from Randstad that prosecutors say were cashed through a network of intermediaries, including Toomajian, who allegedly used a special bank account tied to his law practice to conceal the origin of the money.

The funds were eventually filtered back to Giallanella -- sometimes by Toomajian in the form of mortgage payments on a home Giallanella owned -- to pay off the large gambling debts incurred by Davis, according to court documents.

Much of the case against Toomajian and Davis hinge on extensive wiretap evidence collected by the Massachusetts State Police.

Toomajian's attorney, Thomas Drechsler, has denied the charges against Toomajian, and in a previous hearing in Middlesex Superior Court, argued that police illegally collected the recordings.

"My client's voice is not on any wire tap," said Drechsler at a Jan. 19 hearing where he attempted to have the wire taps thrown out.

Although the majority of the recorded evidence has been kept under court-ordered seal, a portion of the transcripts reveal conversation between Davis and Giallanella in which they seem to refer to the former Malden mayoral aide, who is also a private attorney.

In the excerpt, Davis, at that time still unidentified by police, tells Giallanella that in order to pay part of his debt, he would have to contact "the attorney."

"I still have to contact the attorney," the man, identified later as Davis, said. "And he's gotta [expletive] cut a check for 28 grand."

Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.