Ex-Nahant, Saugus manager Bisignani arraigned

SALEM – Former Saugus town manager and former Nahant town administrator Andrew Bisignani pleaded not guilty to corruption charges Tuesday and was released on personal recognizance.The details of the charges were not discussed in court, however, as a prosecutor said the evidence includes approximately 250,000 pages of documents and enough digital evidence to fill the hard drive of a new computer.”They may be trying to bury us,” defense attorney Karen Miner said of the extent of the evidence.Bisignani, 68, of Nahant, resigned in 2011 after more than a decade as town manager of Saugus. He shortly thereafter was named town administrator in his hometown.A series of audits in Saugus conducted by Powers & Sullivan and completed in July 2012 found $700,000 in “questionable purchases and costs” along with $1.3 million in purchases not in compliance with procurement laws, and $1.4 million in general fund-related payroll and expenses being charged to water and sewer accounts.Bisignani resigned “per a mutually agreeable termination” from Nahant’s top position at a June 12 board of selectmen meeting, and State Police from the Essex district attorney’s office raided Nahant Town Hall the next day.An Essex County grand jury indicted Bisignani Dec. 30 on 12 counts. He is charged with two counts of procurement fraud, related to town vehicles and public works repairs; one count of knowing violation of laws relating to the incurring of liability and expenditure of public funds; and one count of failure to provide public notice of competitive bids; stemming from his tenure in Saugus between Jan. 1, 2009 and Feb. 1, 2012.From his tenure in Nahant, Bisignani faces charges of two counts of procurement fraud, related to public building repair and public works repairs. Bisignani is also charged with single counts each of knowing violation of laws relating to the incurring of liability and expenditure of public funds; failure to provide notice of competitive bids; altering, defacing, mutilating, destroying public records; unlawfully intercepting oral communications; misleading person(s) in connection with a criminal proceeding, relating to altering documents requested in a grand jury summons; and altering and tampering with records of documents, said official proceeding involving the violation of a criminal statute.A not guilty plea was entered on Bisignani’s behalf at his arraignment in Salem Superior Court Tuesday morning. Bisignani has denied the charges.Essex Assistant District Attorney Karen Hopwood and Miner announced they had agreed that Bisignani be released on personal recognizance. Terms of release include that the defendant have no contact and stay away from all witnesses, and surrender his passport.While details of the allegations were not discussed in open court, attorneys requested an extended timeline for subsequent court dates due to what Hopwood said was approximately 250,000 pages of evidence and a terabyte (1,000 gigabytes – the size of a hard drive on a new iMac) of digital evidence.”I’m looking forward to getting the discovery to begin his defense,” Miner said after the arraignment. She said she would not comment on the charges without having seen the evidence.Salem Superior Court Judge John Lu scheduled Bisignani to return to court March 10 for a pretrial conference.