Mauricio Baiense, Tax Crimes, Massachusetts 2024

Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Tax Crimes

BOSTON, MA - A Quincy man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a tax fraud scheme that resulted in a tax loss of approximately $2,824,577.

Mauricio Baiense, 57, owner of Medford-based construction business Contract Framing Builders, Inc. (CFB), was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young.

Baiense pleaded guilty in April 2024 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, seven counts of failure to collect and pay over taxes, one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, and one count of making false statements.

From approximately 2013 through 2017, Baiense facilitated having approximately $11 million worth of checks drawn on CFB’s corporate bank account to purported subcontractors, which were in fact nominee entities controlled by him.

Baiense then directed others to cash the checks at a check cashing business and used the money to operate an “off-the-books” cash payroll for CFB’s employees, which he did not report to the IRS or pay employment taxes on.

Additionally, Baiense made false statements to a federal investigator regarding a fatal workplace accident, falsely claiming that the deceased employee did not work for him.

Baiense was ordered to pay $2,824,577.45 in restitution to the United States.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit and Trial Attorney Thomas F. Koelbl of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Jeff Erskine, Acting Regional Administrator of the Department of Labor OSHA Region 1, Jonathan Wlodyka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office, and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General in Boston.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, OSHA Criminal Investigations Team, Region 1, and the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/owner-medford-construction-company-sentenced-tax-crimes-and-making-false-statements