Saving Seafood

Timeline: Case of Carlos Rafael

September 26, 2017 — Feb. 26, 2016: Federal authorities raided Carlos Seafood on South Front Street in New Bedford, arresting owner Carlos Rafael, 64, and bookkeeper Debra Messier, 60, both of Dartmouth, on charges of conspiracy and falsifying records. Rafael was held without bail; Messier was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

March 2, 2016: Rafael is allowed to return home under strict conditions of a $1 million bond; he is allowed to continue working, too. Rafael and his wife, Conceicao, agree to place their Tucker Lane home in North Dartmouth and Carlos Seafood as collateral for the bond.

March 25, 2016: Prosecutors receive an extension of the deadline to indict Rafael. The length of the deadline’s extension is not disclosed.

May 4, 2016: Rafael has been indicted by federal prosecutors for lying about fish catches and smuggling cash to Portugal through Logan airport in Boston, in a multi-year scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to court documents. The indictment lists 27 counts against Rafael, for charges including conspiracy, false entries and bulk cash smuggling. Rafael is alleged to have falsely reported the species of more than 815,000 pounds of fish to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between 2012 and January 2016, according to the Office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

May 4, 2016: Antonio Freitas, 46, of Taunton is charged with using his special assignment status as a member of the Department of Homeland Security Task Force, which gave him access to restricted areas of Logan International Airport, to help Rafael smuggle cash out of the U.S. Freitas is a member of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Honor Guard.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

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

‘Codfather’ pleads not guilty to fish conspiracy

May 13, 2016 — New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael pleaded not guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Worcester to conspiracy, lying to NOAA Fisheries about the exact species of fish he landed through a four-year span, and illegally smuggling cash out of the country.

Rafael, know widely as “The Codfather,” remains free on the $1 million bond set after his February arrest for conspiracy and submitting falsified records. The arrests of Rafael and his bookkeeper Debra Messier capped an undercover sting operation by federal authorities, some of whom posed as Russian mobsters looking to buy his business.

The 64-year-old Rafael, who appeared before Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy, controls one of the largest commercial fishing fleets in the United States and has been a powerful force in Northeast commercial fishing circles through his ownership of 32 fishing vessels and a block of 44 federal fishing permits with a value estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Gloucester hooked to New Bedford fish fraud case?

February 29, 2016 — GLOUCESTER — The stunning arrest of New Bedford fishing mogul Carlos Rafael last Friday on federal conspiracy and fraud charges may have a Gloucester connection.

The affidavit submitted in support of the federal criminal complaint against Rafael and bookkeeper Debra Messier by Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Ronald Mullett, one of the undercover operatives involved in stinging Rafael, includes an oblique reference to Gloucester.

The reference takes place in a quote attributed to a New York man that federal investigators allege to be the wholesale buyer of Rafael’s illicit, off-the-books fish. The man initially is referred to only as “Michael,” but later in the affidavit also is called “Perretti.”

During the discussion, according to the affidavit, the talk turned to laundering money.

Gloucester talk

“During the meeting, the UCs (undercover agents) also told Perretti that they had cash on hand from an insurance fraud they perpetuated,” according to the affidavit. “Perretti explained that he could launder money from the UCs, suggesting he could reach out to individuals he used to charge 15 percent in the past.”

Read the full story at Salem State News

MASSACHUSETTS: Federal agents raid New Bedford seafood wholesaler

February 26, 2016 — Federal agents swarmed Carlos Seafood in New Bedford Friday morning arresting the owner Carlos Rafael and his book keeper Debra Messier.

The two are accusing of selling fish off the books. They are facing federal charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the federal government to evade federal fishing quotas.

This isn’t the first time Rafael has been in trouble. In fact, over the last 20 years he’s been the subject of multiple federal investigations.

Rafael, sometimes referred to as the “Cod Father,” owns 40 fishing vessels in New Bedford and Gloucester.

“My immediate concern is what’s going to happen next week and the week after to the fisherman who have to go out to sea and the livelihood of the folks who are in his processing plant,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell.

A court affidavit reveals that undercover IRS agents first began their investigation into Rafael in May of 2015. The agents posed as a broker and Russian immigrants involved in crime. They told Rafael  they were interested in buying his business.

Read the full story at ABC News

View a PDF of the affidavit of agent Ronald Mullet in support of a criminal complaint charging Carlos Raphael

MASSACHUSETTS: Carlos A. Rafael held without bail

February 26, 2016 — BOSTON — Carlos A. Rafael was held without bail Friday afternoon after appearing in U.S. District Court on charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the federal government.

Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy ordered Rafael, 64, held until a preliminary and detention hearing is held in the federal court in Worcester on Wednesday, March 2 at 1 p.m.Rafael’s bookkeeper and co-defendant, Debra Messier of Dartmouth, faces the same charges but was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

The two appeared in the Boston court Friday afternoon after federal authorities, including the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service, executed two search warrants and raided the headquarters of Rafael’s groundfishing and scallop business on the city’s South End waterfront Friday morning.

Federal prosecutors charge that for years, Rafael, with the help of Messier, lied to federal authorities about the quantity and species of fish his large New Bedford fleet caught, in order to evade federal groundfishing quotas, according to the criminal complaint filed by the IRS. After submitting false records to federal regulators, Rafael then sold the fish to a business in New York City in exchange for bags of cash, the Office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew E. Lelling argued Rafael posed a flight risk.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

View a PDF of the affidavit of agent Ronald Mullet in support of a criminal complaint charging Carlos Raphael