Boston developer, brother of state senator, sued for millions by investors

A Boston real estate developer — the brother of a state senator — is facing a number of lawsuits from investors who say he has not delivered on promises of major construction projects in the city.

Andrew Collins, the twin brother of Sen. Nick Collins, D-1st Suffolk, had attracted investors for a series of mixed-use projects in South Boston in an area with rapid growth. today, he is listed as a defendant in numerous state and federal lawsuits claiming a total of at least $143 million in damages, the Boston Globe first reported.

“Put simply, Collins does not believe that the rules apply to him,” one set of investors wrote in a lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court.

According to the Globe, Collins began collecting properties along Dorchester Avenue over the past several years, eventually controlling about 3.2 acres. The area, located between the Broadway and Andrew MBTA stations, has been targeted for development by a number of developers, not just Collins.

However, according to lawsuits from his investors, Collins began a pattern of defaulting on his loans when the projects he planned did not move forward. He never formally filed any plans with the city, according to the Globe.

Mark Corner, Collins’ attorney, told the newspaper his client had repaid $34.6 million of the $52 million he borrowed from investors, and disputed the claims in the series of suits.

“There is a significant difference between one event making an unverified allegation in a court pleading, and a final determination being reached,” Corner said, according to the Globe.

Another attorney representing Collins said development had been delayed by market conditions.

Some investors have already won judgments against Collins, the largest of which came in September, when a judge granted $8.6 million to Divas Pant and Dhiraj Bora of California. Pant and Bora had claimed that Collins had promised to repay a loan with interest from a special liability corporation he owned, but then merged the company into another to avoid doing so.

Representatives for Collins and his brother both said Sen. Nick Collins was not connected in any way with Andrew Collins’ business interests, and had recused himself from anything having to do with his brother’s properties.

“Senator Collins comes from a large immediate family that he loves,” a spokesperson for the lawmaker told the Globe. “He maintains a separate professional life from all of them in line with the state’s conflict of interest laws.”