February 26, 2016 — Federal agents swarmed Carlos Seafood in New Bedford Friday morning arresting the owner Carlos Rafael and his book keeper Debra Messier.
The two are accusing of selling fish off the books. They are facing federal charges of conspiracy and submitting falsified records to the federal government to evade federal fishing quotas.
This isn’t the first time Rafael has been in trouble. In fact, over the last 20 years he’s been the subject of multiple federal investigations.
Rafael, sometimes referred to as the “Cod Father,” owns 40 fishing vessels in New Bedford and Gloucester.
“My immediate concern is what’s going to happen next week and the week after to the fisherman who have to go out to sea and the livelihood of the folks who are in his processing plant,” said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell.
A court affidavit reveals that undercover IRS agents first began their investigation into Rafael in May of 2015. The agents posed as a broker and Russian immigrants involved in crime. They told Rafael they were interested in buying his business.