“Codfather” Pleads Guilty in Fish Falsification Case

The owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the United States has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, falsifying federal records, cash smuggling and tax evasion in a case accusing him of deliberately misreporting the types of fish he caught to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). U.S. v. Rafael, No. 16­-10124 (D. Mass, plea entered March 30, 2017). Carlos Rafael, owner of Carlos Seafood, Inc. and known as the “Codfather,” will face possible forfeiture of his business assets and up to five years in prison at his June 2017 sentencing.

An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation apparently found that Rafael caught 800,000 pounds of fish over several years and reported it as haddock, pollock or other species with high NOAA quotas despite containing thousands of pounds of fish with lower quotas, including cod, flounder, grey sole, yellowtail and American plaice. Rafael also told IRS agents posing as potential buyers that he had been falsifying his reporting for 30 years, potentially throwing off NOAA numbers by millions and providing a possible explanation as to why fish stocks are smaller than scientists have projected over the years.

Restaurants and food companies have been targeted with claims of seafood fraud for several years. Details on seafood fraud reports and cases appear in Issues 416, 458, 583 and 602 of this Update.

Issue 630