Newport, Rhode Island U.S. Commercial Fisheries New England - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

• NOAA OLE
• New England Fishery Management Council
• Newport, Rhode Island
• Office of Law

Enforcement

U.S. Commercial Fisheries

Maine - ($633M) Massachusetts ($552M) Rhode Island – ($93M) New Hampshire – ($33M) Connecticut – ($15M)

New England Landings $1.36B

Who is Carlos Rafael?

Influential New England Commercial Fishing Vessel Owner

• At least 40 Commercial Fishing Vessels with approximately 60 federal

permits.

• Controlled a large percentage of the Northeast “ground-fish” permits.
• Responsible for hundreds of fishing related jobs in New Bedford, MA.

Prior Criminal History

• 1987 Convicted for tax evasion (served 6 mos.)
• 1994 Price fixing (acquitted)
• 1999 False statements on federal forms (2 yrs. Probation)
• Multiple NOAA civil fisheries violations.

881 lb. Blue Fin Tuna Illegally Caught and Forfeited November 22, 2011

Criminal Investigation: January 2015

King of New England groundfishing plans to sell his fleet out of New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD - The biggest player in the New England groundfishing industry says he is cashing out of the business, selling off his scallopers and later his groundfish draggers, which count among the last in the country's top-grossing fishing port. Rafael refused to name the company but said his decision is in response to the state's cutting in half the amount

• f federal groundfish disaster relief aid he would get. The policy

applies to all Massachusetts permit holders but will affect only Rafael because he's the only one with more qualifying permits than the 10.9 permit cap.

Investigative Team

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration Office of Law Enforcement (NOAA OLE)

• Internal Revenue Service Criminal

Investigation Division (IRS-CID)

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Department of Homeland Security

(DHS)

• Coast Guard Investigative Service

(CGIS)

Multi-Agency Undercover Investigation

Investigation

• IRS Agents with support of the
• ther agencies posed as
• rganized crime members

interested in purchasing Rafael business.

• Conducted five (5) joint

undercover operations from June 2015 through February 2016 with Rafael and his business associates.

• All agencies worked together

focusing on their areas of expertise. Investigative Results

• Egregious fisheries violations

to include false reporting over a several year period.

• Federal tax evasion.
• Public corruption, bulk cash

smuggling and structuring.

It’s Simple Math

Weight of Product Sold (Total Sales) Weight of Reported Landings to NOAA Weight of Product Purchased from 3rd Parties = Unreported / Illegal Landings

It’s Simple Math

10,000 lbs. of Grey Sole sold 3,000 lbs. reported to NOAA 500 lbs. purchased from 3rd party = 6,500 lbs. Unreported / Illegal Landings

Environmental Impact: Estimated Overages

Species 2015 2014 2013 2012 TOTAL Cod 80,731

• 80,731

Sea Dabs 160,785

• 160,785

Grey Sole 144,180 72,804 25,948 20,919 263,851 Yellow Tail 46,840 141,025 73,305 16,274 277,444 TOTAL: 432,536 213,829 99,253 37,193 782,811

Carlos Seafood Species of Concern “Overcatch”

Retail Value

Retail Value

Investigation Summary

• February 2016: Search and arrest warrants
• May 2016: Rafael and sheriff’s deputy indicted
• Rafael indicted on twenty-five (25) counts of Lacey Act False

Labeling and Identification (16USC§3372(d)), filing false reports (18USC§1519) and bulk cash smuggling (31USC§5332)

• Sheriff’s deputy indicted for bulk cash smuggling and structuring

(31USC§5324)

• March 2017: Superseding information to included tax evasion

(26USC§7201)

Investigation Summary

• July 2017: Sheriff deputy convicted of bulk cash smuggling and

structuring the export of US currency.

• September 2017: Rafael pleaded guilty to the superseding

information.

• October 2017: Sheriff deputy sentenced to one year and a day in

federal prison.

• November 2017: Rafael was sentenced to forty-six (46) months in

federal prison, followed by three (3) years of probation and during such time he is barred from the fishing industry.

Investigation Summary

• Government sought forfeiture of thirteen (13) of Rafael’s vessels

named in the indictment.

• After careful consideration, the court ruled and ordered the forfeiture
• f four (4) of Rafael’s vessels named in the indictment.
• January 2018: NOAA issued a NOVA for $983,528, consisting of

thirty-five (35) civil violations involving alleged species misreporting, stock area misreporting and scallop overages. The NOVA also sought to revoke two (2) of Rafael’s boat captains operators permits.

• September 2018: NOAA issued a superseding NOVA increasing the

assessed civil penalty to $3,356,269. Increased alleged violations of federal fishery laws from thirty-five (35) to eighty-eight (88). Sought to revoke seventeen (17) of Rafael’s boat captains operators permits.

Investigation Summary

• November 2018: After an appeal, the court ruled for the

forfeiture of two (2) of Rafael’s vessels named in the indictment and monetary payment in lieu of the other 2 vessels.

• September 2019: NOAA reached a Global Settlement with
• Rafael. Rafael agreed to pay $3,010,633 in civil penalties and

completely divest from the commercial fishing industry. The seventeen (17) captains will serve a combined 1,320 days of permit suspension, 382 months of probation and be subject to enhanced reporting requirements.

Possible Areas For Improvement

• Increase and refocus

monitoring efforts.

• 1. Dockside monitoring?
• 2. Increase and refine
• bserver coverage rates?
• 3. Electronic monitoring?
• Offloading windows.
• Explore additional

restrictions on vertically intergrated companies.

17

Questions?