A Captain with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office in Boston, USA, has been arrested and charged in connection with helping Carlos Rafael smuggle the cash profits of his illegal overfishing scheme to Portugal. Of Açorean descent, Rafael is known locally in the US as 'The Codfather,' and owns of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in America.
James Melo, 45, of North Dartmouth, Mass., was charged with one count each of bulk cash smuggling, structuring and conspiracy. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond following his appearance in federal court in Boston on August 30th, 2017.
In May 2015, federal agents began an undercover operation targeting Carlos Rafael, the owner of one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the U.S. In the autumn of 2015, undercover agents, posing as potential buyers of Rafael’s business, met with Rafael to negotiate buying his fishing business.
Rafael told the agents that he hid the cash proceeds of his illegal fishing sales, in part, by smuggling the money to Portugal.
Rafael said that he sometimes took the money himself, but also used the services of others, and referred to knowing several members of the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, including Melo, whom he described as, “the captain at the prison.”
On November 10th, 2015, agents conducting surveillance at Logan Airport saw Melo and Rafael arrive in a white car, marked as belonging to the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, for a flight to Portugal.
Melo completed Transportation Security Administration screening without incident, but Rafael was found in possession of $27,000, for which he completed a financial affidavit.
Several other acquaintances of Rafael and Melo also were on the flight and, allegedly coordinated by Melo, helped Rafael smuggle an additional $50,000 in cash to Portugal.
It is further alleged that before the flight, Melo distributed envelopes of cash to these acquaintances, each of whom took an envelope on the flight and returned it to Melo or Rafael after landing in Portugal.
Two days later, on November 13th, 2015, Portuguese bank records indicate that $76,000 in U.S. currency was deposited into a Banif Bank account in Rafael’s name.
The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
The charge of bulk cash smuggling provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of structuring* carries a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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* What is structuring money?
It seems appropriate that the crime of structuring is also sometimes called smurfing. Generally speaking, structuring is the act of breaking up financial transactions to get around the federal reporting requirements that kick in for transactions over a specific amount of money.
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To read the background of the case an an insight into the Codfather, see: 'The Last Trial of the Codfather'
