February 29, 2016 — BOSTON — Fraud charges against the owner of a prominent New Bedford fishing company highlight the need for greater enforcement of fishery regulations, according to an environmental group.
Carlos Rafael, owner of 40 fishing vessels in New Bedford and Gloucester as well as Carlos Seafood, was arrested on Friday on charges his organization lied about the species of fish landed, and he smuggled cash out of the country.
Among other allegations, federal authorities said Rafael told undercover agents he had assistance from a local law enforcement officer who helped him move cash through the airport to Portugal.
Accused of circumventing federal quotas by labeling dabs and other fish as haddock – where Rafael said he has a 15-million-pound quota – Rafael regularly shipped the mislabeled fish to a buyer in New York City, according to federal officials.
“Because it is nearly impossible to monitor what fishing vessels do out at sea, commercial fishing vessels are required to comply with various reporting requirement,” the 18-page affidavit by Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Ronald Mullett states.
Rafael told undercover agents posing as Russian mobsters interested in buying the business that co-defendant Debra Messier had “been in the life” with him for 30 years and everyone in the company “knows the scheme,” according to the complaint.
According to the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint Rafael was previously convicted of tax evasion in the 1980s, acquitted of price-fixing in 1994 and convicted of making false statements on fishing vessels’ landing slips in 2000. Messier is his bookkeeper and both live in Dartmouth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to the Boston Globe, Rafael was held without bail pending a detention hearing on Wednesday and Messier was released from custody on $10,000 unsecured bond.