MassHousing Executive Resigns After Grant Awards to Developers Who Sold Him a Home

Tony Richards II resigned Friday from his position as vice president for strategic community initiatives at MassHousing. He had awarded $1.4 million in grants from the Gateway Housing Rehabilitation Program to developers Gary Acquah and Reginald Woods shortly after purchasing a West Roxbury home from them in 2023.

Richards bought the house for $785,000, which was $204,000 below the original asking price.

The grants represented more than half of all funds distributed under the program. Acquah and Woods submitted fake invoices claiming work by at least nine subcontractors who said they had not performed or been paid for the work. Richards disclosed the relationship to MassHousing officials about a year after the grant awards.

Agency lawyer Colin McNiece decided no written disclosure was required because the funds had already been disbursed. Richards stated through McNiece that he did not realize he had awarded the grants to the same developers until late 2024 while seeking to cancel private mortgage insurance.

Emails obtained by the Globe through a public-records request showed Richards exchanging friendly messages with the developers around the time of the home sale.

MassHousing hired the Mintz law firm to audit the Gateway program and other grants under Richards’s oversight, and transferred grant oversight to its legal department during the review. Richards retained a lawyer ahead of the Globe’s initial story and has made no public comment. A MassHousing spokesman said the resignation was voluntary and that Richards received no severance payment.