Not sure why it hasn't been posted here yet.
Of course this kind of thing has been going on for a long time and this arrest and prosecution wont stop it. This is an organized crime ring IMO and there should be many more arrested. Greedy POS .
Undercover federal agents bust owner of New Bedford fishing business
By Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff
February 26, 2016
The owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the Northeast was charged Friday with falsifying records to evade federal fishing quotas – an alleged scheme that was uncovered when federal agents posed as organized crime figures who were interested in buying his business.
Carlos A. Rafael, 64, the owner of Carlos Seafood Inc. in New Bedford, is slated to appear in federal court Friday afternoon. His book keeper, Debra Messier, 60, was also charged. They are both from Dartmouth.
They face up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the federal government, as well as a $250,000 fine. Sentences for crimes are typically far below the maximum punishment allowed.
Authorities said that Rafael, with Messier’s help, fudged records to mislead federal monitors about the quantity and species of fish his boats caught, to evade quotas that were designed to guarantee the sustainability of certain fish species. He then sold fish to a New York City buyer for bags of cash.
Authorities said his trucks made daily deliveries, and that Rafael then had someone retrieve the cash at designated spots in Connecticut. He allegedly told agents he had earned $668,000 in less than six months, and that he smuggled some of the cash through Logan International Airport to Portugal.
The alleged scheme began to unravel in June 2015 when Rafael met with two undercover agents posing as gangsters, who were interested in buying his business.
During sales negotiation meetings, Rafael allegedly described how he kept much of his business off-the-books. At one point at a meeting in January 2016, Rafael and Messier allegedly explained what they called “the dance” — the process by which Rafael and others coordinated with his boat captains to falsify federal forms meant to track the quantity and species of fish that was caught.
Milton J. Valencia can be reached at milton.valencia@globe.com.
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