Carlos Rafael, Falsifying Fishing Records, Massachusetts 2016

BOSTON, Massachusetts – Carlos Rafael, 64, of Dartmouth, the owner of Carlos Seafood, Inc., was charged with a long-running scheme involving submitting falsified records to the federal government to evade federal fishing quotas and then smuggling the profits to Portugal.

Rafael was previously arrested on a criminal complaint filed in February 2016. He was indicted on one count of conspiring to falsify reports submitted to the federal government, 25 counts of submitting falsified records, and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

According to the indictment, from 2012 to January 2016, Rafael routinely lied to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) about the quantity and species of fish his boats caught, in order to evade federal quotas designed to guarantee the sustainability of certain fish species.

Rafael allegedly misreported to NOAA approximately 815,812 pounds of fish, telling NOAA the fish was haddock, or some other abundant species subject to high quotas, when in fact the fish was cod, sole, or other species subject to strict quotas.

The indictment alleges that Rafael, with the assistance of Antonio Freitas, a Sheriff’s Deputy with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, smuggled at least some of the cash out of the United States to his native Portugal. Freitas was also a Department of Homeland Security Task Force Officer which gave him access to restricted areas of Logan Airport.

The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Twenty-three of the charges of falsifying records submitted to the federal government carry the same potential sentence, while two counts, brought under a different statute, provide for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Freitas was arrested this morning and will appear today in U.S. District Court in Worcester. Rafael was previously arrested on a criminal complaint filed in February 2016. The charges arose out of an undercover investigation in which federal agents posed as organized crime figures interested in buying Carlos Seafood. During meetings with the undercover agents, Rafael allegedly said that in his most recent dealings with the New York buyer he received $668,000 in cash.

On Feb. 5, 2016, with the assistance of another individual, Freitas allegedly smuggled $17,500 through airport security and later deposited the money in a Portuguese bank account belonging to Rafael.

Related Federal Cases