A Portuguese fishing tycoon known as the ‘Codfather’ has been arrested in the US for fraud and will appear in court later this week.
The case involves conspiracy, alleged false accusations, the illegal capture and sale of protected species and a Portuguese 'rags to riches' multi-millionaire.
Carlos Rafael, who owns one of the largest commercial fishing operations in the northeastern United States, was arrested last Friday, February 26, on suspicion of the illegal fishing and sale of protected species. He also has been accused of conspiracy and making false statements.
According to CNN, the slippery businessman, who hails from the Azores but later took US nationalility, is known in the media as the ‘codfather’ and now is accused of lying to federal authorities about quota-busting volumes of fish and the illegal capture of protected species.
Carlos Seafood, Inc., located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is accused of concealing protected species in compartments of his fishing vessels to make it look like allowable species only had been caught.
The fish was then sold to a wholesaler in New York in exchange for cash which later was bagged and dispatched by plane to Portugal.
Carlos Rafael put his business up for sale, for a cool $175 million and undercover agents were sent along posing as potential buyers from the Russian underworld.
The entrepreneur confided in the agents that the sale of illegally landed fish had earned him $668,000 ‘off the books’ in just six months.
Carlos Rafael and his accountant Debra Messier were up before a Boston judge on Friday, and Messier was bailed.
The investigation has involved the IRS, the US Coast Guard investigation service and the US Maritime Authority. Further arrests are expected.
Carlos Rafael was born in Corvo Island, Azores, and in the 60s the 14-years-old moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts where he started work in a fish processing factory.
For over 40 years Rafael worked in the industry and reinvested almost everything he had, buying a factory, a warehouse and a fishing fleet. His first fishing boat was bought in 1981 just before he spent four months in jail for tax evasion.
