Saving Seafood

New indictment adds tax evasion to charges against Carlos Rafael

March 24, 2017 — The U.S. attorney included a new charge of tax evasion against Carlos Rafael as part of a “superseding” indictment released by its office last week.

The charge of tax evasion brought the total number of counts against the New Bedford fishing tycoon to 28. The others also include one count of conspiracy, 25 counts of lying to federal fishing regulators and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

According to the U.S. attorney, Rafael is expected to plead guilty to tax evasion as part of his plea agreement, which was announced earlier this month. The U.S. attorney Massachusetts provided no other information regarding the deal except that Rafael would plead guilty to evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits to Portugal in addition to tax evasion.

Rafael is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Boston on March 30 at 2:30 p.m.

The updated indictment states that from November 2014 to about October of 2015 Rafael failed to pay taxes in the sum of $108,929. It also included two new paragraphs regarding the general allegations toward Rafael.

The U.S. attorney alleges that Rafael deposited cash into accounts in Portugal to avoid paying taxes on the money. According to the indictment, Rafael told a bookkeeper for Carlos Seafood Inc. not to enter the cash payments into the company’s record-keeping system.

The U.S. attorney also alleges Rafael omitted $267,061 in reportable cash income in 2014.

Rafael spent six months in federal prison after being convicted of tax evasion in the 1980s.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Carlos Rafael plea hearing postponed to March 30

March 16, 2017 — Carlos Rafael’s court date where the fishing tycoon is scheduled to plead guilty to charges in connection with evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits to Portugal has been postponed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts said on Wednesday.

Rafael will appear in U.S. District Court in Boston on March 30 at 2:30 p.m. He was originally scheduled to appear in court as part of the settlement with the government on Thursday.

The U.S. Attorney’s office had no further details regarding the plea deal.

Often referred to as the “Codfather” as the owner of 36 boats, Rafael faced one count of conspiracy, 25 counts of lying to federal fishing regulators and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Rafael scheduled to plead guilty to evading fish quotas, smuggling money

March 9, 2017 — Carlos Rafael, who was labeled by the Department of Justice as the owner of the largest commercial fishing business in New England, will plead guilty to federal charges as part of a settlement he reached with the government, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Massachusetts said Wednesday.

Rafael of Dartmouth was scheduled to appear in federal court on March 20. Instead he’s scheduled to plead guilty to evading fishing quotas and smuggling profits to Portugal in U.S. District Court in Boston at 2 p.m. on March 16. The U.S. Attorney’s office provided no further details regarding the plea deal.

Rafael’s attorney, William Kettlwell, did not return requests asking for comment.

Often referred to as the “Codfather” as the owner of more than 40 boats ported in New Bedford and Gloucester, Rafael faced one count of conspiracy, 25 counts of lying to federal fishing regulators and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

The indictment filed by the U.S. Attorney last May listed 22 examples of Rafael falsely claiming his vessels caught either haddock or pollock from June 2012 through January 2016. According to the indictment, in those circumstances Rafael actually caught fish that were subject to stricter quotas than haddock or pollock like American plaice, yellowtail or gray sole.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Carlos Rafael Trial Delayed

January 24, 2017 — The federal trial of New Bedford fishing kingpin Carlos Rafael has been pushed back more than a month to March amid indications that Rafael is looking for a deal from federal prosecutors.

U.S. District Court Judge William Young, sitting in Boston, approved the defense’s request to reschedule the start of the trial to March 20 to accommodate a scheduling conflict for one of Rafael’s attorneys. It is the second time the original Feb. 6 trial date has been extended.

The motion for a continuance filed by Rafael’s attorney William H. Kettlewell also indicated that Rafael is speaking with prosecutors about resolving the charges in the 27-count indictment before the matter goes to trial.

“The short continuance requested in this motion will allow counsel time to complete (another) trial and complete discussions with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding resolving the matter short of trial,” Kettlewell wrote in his motion.

Kettlewell did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on the rescheduling or the possibility of a pre-trial deal.

Rafael, known widely as the “Codfather” to reflect his expansive fishing fleet of at least 36 commercial fishing vessels and significant waterfront holdings, is accused of 25 counts of lying to federal fishing regulators about the value and species of his seafood landings and selling portions of those landings off the books.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

Carlos ‘Codfather’ Rafael to talk with prosecutors about resolving criminal case

January 23, 2017 — Indicted New Bedford scallops magnate Carlos “Codfather” Rafael has asked the court to postpone his upcoming trial in part to pursue talks with prosecutors about “resolving” the matter, court documents show.

One of Rafael’s attorneys, William Kettlewell, asked the Massachusetts federal court of judge William G. Young to postpone Rafael’s Feb. 13 trial to at least March 20. Young granted the order.

The delay, the second in recent months, is required as Kettlewell is expected to represent a different client in a two-week trial beginning on Jan. 30, the lawyer wrote. But, that time can also be used for negotiations with prosecutors about a possible settlement.

“The short continuance requested in this motion will allow counsel time to complete that trial and complete discussions with the US Attorney’s Office regarding resolving this matter short of trial,” Kettlewell wrote in the motion.

He did not respond to requests from Undercurrent News for comment.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

Court splits cases for fishing mogul, deputy

December 14th, 2016 — Federal authorities prosecuting New Bedford fishing magnate Carlos Rafael released a small trove of documents this week that made at least one thing pretty obvious: It didn’t take long for accused co-conspirator Antonio Freitas to drop Rafael into the bag once the law showed up.

The documents were attached to the government’s response to separate-but-similar motions by Rafael and Freitas to be tried individually.

They included partial transcripts from recorded conversations between Rafael and the undercover agents in which Rafael appears to talk about his family joining him in the alleged cash smuggling.

U.S. District Court Judge William Young on Monday granted the motions to sever the trials of the two defendants, with Rafael scheduled to go first on Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Freitas, a Bristol County sheriff’s deputy, is set to be tried following the completion of Rafael’s trial.

Prosecutors have charged Rafael with one count of conspiracy and 25 counts of making false statements to fishing regulators about the species of groundfish he landed in New Bedford and fish he was selling off the books.

They’ve also charged Rafael and Freitas with one count each of bulk cash smuggling.

“The cash smuggling is where the co-defendant, Antonio Freitas, comes in,” the government wrote in its response to the motions.

Read the full story at The Gloucester Times 

Partial transcript of Rafael’s meeting with undercover IRS agents revealed

December 12, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Boston Thursday show seafood mogul Carlos Rafael implicating his whole family in his alleged scheme to smuggle cash to the Azores and turn large catches of protected fish into large amounts of cash by selling them under the table.

Rafael is also quoted as boasting that he pressured Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson, into giving Deputy Sheriff Antonio Freitas a raise and promotion, and in turn using Freitas to get large amounts of cash around immigration and customs at Logan Airport.

The document is an official response to requests by Rafael and Freitas to be tried separately to preserve their individual rights.

The items are contained in a partial transcript of a meeting Rafael had with two men he thought were Russian businessmen but who were actually IRS agents operating under cover to learn how Rafael did business.

Rafael explained that as many as eight people in his family would make the trip to the Azores carrying cash that Freitas could bypass from customs.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

‘Codfather’ asks court to split his, deputy’s cases

November 28th, 2016 — New Bedford fishing kingpin Carlos Rafael and the Bristol County sheriff’s deputy indicted as Rafael’s co-defendant each are seeking to be tried separately in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Rafael, known widely as “The Codfather” because of his vast New Bedford fishing assets and waterfront holdings, and Antonio M. Freitas, the Bristol County deputy sheriff, are scheduled to stand trial together on Jan. 9.

Attorneys for both men filed separate motions with the court earlier this week to sever the cases. The motions also seeks to have the court try each defendant separately, each claiming the other’s statements to law enforcement officials would injure their own cases if tried together.

 Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“A joint trial presents a serious risk of compromising Mr. Rafael’s Sixth Amendment confrontation rights in light of incriminating evidence made to law enforcement by Mr. Freitas,” William Kettlewell, Rafael’s defense attorney, wrote in his motion to U. S. District Court Judge William Young. “Moreover, severance in this case would not be administratively burdensome as the defendants are jointly named in only one of 28 counts alleged in the indictment.”

Read the full story at The Salem News 

Prosecutors dismiss charges against bookkeeper for indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael

July 26, 2016 — BOSTON — Federal prosecutors moved Monday to dismiss the charges against Dartmouth resident Debra Messier, the longtime bookkeeper for indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael, after her case had sat largely idle since her February arrest.

The motion likely clears Messier of potential penalties — pending a judge’s ruling — ahead of Rafael’s federal trial, slated for January 2017 at U.S. District Court in Boston.

Rafael and Messier were arrested Feb. 26 on charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the government, after federal authorities raided the Carlos Seafood building on New Bedford’s waterfront.

Messier was released from custody the same day on a $10,000 bond. Prosecutors said Monday’s dismissal motion was filed “in the interests of justice.”

Prosecutors allege that Rafael, for years and with Messier’s help, lied to federal authorities about the amount and kinds of fish caught by his New Bedford-based fleet, in order to evade federal fishing quotas.

Rafael, a 64-year-old North Dartmouth resident, remains released on bond totaling $2 million. Collateral includes his home; his Carlos Seafood building; and one of his fishing vessels, the Dinah Jane, along with its attached fishing permit. Prosecutors have said Rafael has citizenship both in the U.S. and his native Portugal. His bond conditions require him to wear electronic monitoring equipment and to return home by 8:30 p.m. nightly, while he continues to work on the docks.

He faces 27 counts of federal charges, including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Also facing trial then is alleged smuggling accomplice Antonio M. Freitas, a 46-year-old Taunton resident and Bristol County Sheriff’s Office deputy, suspended without pay. Freitas faces two federal counts, one for bulk cash smuggling and one for international structuring.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael granted later curfew to work longer hours on waterfront

June 30, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Indicted fishing magnate Carlos Rafael has been granted a later curfew to work longer hours this summer, according to court documents.

“With the arrival of summer, and more activities on the waterfront, Mr. Rafael is needed on the docks to tend to various issues regarding his fishing vessels,” stated a request filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court. “With daylight extending to past 8:30 p.m. throughout the summer months, the present conditions of release prevent Mr. Rafael from working until sundown as is his usual practice.”

Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessey, who set Rafael’s bond conditions in March, granted the request Wednesday. The change enables Rafael to return to his North Dartmouth home by 8:30 p.m. nightly, rather than the initial, 7 p.m. curfew.

Rafael, 64, remains released on bond totaling $2 million. Bond conditions require him to wear electronic monitoring equipment.

He is scheduled for a January 2017 trial on 27 counts of federal charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Also facing trial then is alleged smuggling accomplice Antonio M. Freitas, a 46-year-old Taunton resident and Bristol County Sheriff’s Office deputy, suspended without pay. Freitas faces two federal counts, one for bulk cash smuggling and one for international structuring.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times