A Massachusetts man was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for an employment tax scheme and making a false statement at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration hearing.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Mauricio Baiense, formerly of Quincy, owned and operated Contract Framing Builders Inc., a Medford, Massachusetts, construction business. Baiense was responsible for paying the IRS the payroll taxes withheld from CFB employees’ wages and filing quarterly employment tax returns.
From approximately 2013 through 2017, Baiense facilitated having approximately $11 million worth of checks drawn on CFB’s corporate bank account to purported subcontractors, which were nominee entities controlled by him.
Baiense then directed others to cash the checks at a check cashing business and used the money to operate an “off-the-books” cash payroll for CFB’s employees.
Baiense did not report the cash wages to the IRS or pay employment taxes on wages paid to employees in cash. Baiense also assisted in preparing at least one fraudulent employment tax return that understated the actual wages paid to CFB’s employees.
When questioned under oath at an OSHA interview regarding a fatal workplace accident pertaining to an employee of Baiense’s company, Baiense made false statements to a federal investigator – falsely claiming that the deceased employee did not work for him.
In total, Baiense caused a tax loss to the IRS of approximately $2,824,577.45.
In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge William G. Young for the District of Massachusetts ordered Baiense to serve three years of supervised release and to pay approximately $2,824,577.45 in restitution to the United States.
