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Businessman Accused of Intimidating Employees Faces Tax Fraud Charges

Businessman Accused of Intimidating Employees Faces Tax Fraud Charges

A Massachusetts-based construction company owner previously accused of intimidating employees and failing to pay overtime has been indicted on tax fraud charges.

Per an official release from the United States Department of Justice:

According to the superseding indictment, Mauricio Baiense, formerly of Quincy, owned and operated Contract Framing Builders, Inc. (CFB), a Medford construction business. Baiense allegedly was responsible for filing CFB’s quarterly employment tax returns and collecting and paying over to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from the wages of the company’s employees.

The alleged crimes occurred between 2013 and 2017.

During this time, the Justice Department reports that Bainse wrote checks from CFB's bank account to purported subcontractors, who were actually nominee entities he oversaw. The businessmen then cashed -- or had others cash on his behalf -- approximately $11 million in these fraudulent checks at a local check cashing operation. 

This money was then used in an elaborate scheme to setup an off-the-books payroll for CFB employees. 

In February 2022, Bainse faced additional legal action -- including unlawful retaliation charges -- in a case filed in the United States District Court of Massachusetts. Court documents indicate that the businessman failed to pay overtime to 78 workers, then "intimidated employees" when they questioned his practices.

If Bainse is convicted, the Justice Department reports that he faces "five years in prison for each of the seven counts of willful failure to collect or pay over employment taxes, five years in prison for conspiring to defraud the United States, and three years in prison for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. He also faces up to five years in prison for the false statement charge."

Bainse's sentencing date has not been publicly announced.

Do you think Bainse should go to prison for his tax crimes?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

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