A Massachusetts construction business owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an employment tax scheme and making a false statement at an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hearing about a worker’s death.
According to court documents, Mauricio Baiense, formerly of Quincy, owned and operated Contract Framing Builders Inc. (CFB), a Medford, Massachusetts, construction business. From approximately 2013 through 2017, Baiense had approximately $11 million worth of checks drawn on CFB’s corporate bank account to purported subcontractors, which were in fact entities that he controlled. The purported subcontractors included Strong Carpentry, Erlando Carpentry, JBV Construction, HRB Builders and Trust Builders, according to the July 2022 indictment.
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 and did not pay employment taxes on wages paid to employees in cash. Baiense also assisted in the preparation of at least one fraudulent employment tax return that understated the actual wages paid to CFB’s employees.
Also, when questioned in 2017 under oath at an OSHA interview regarding a fatal workplace accident pertaining to an employee, Baiense falsely claimed to a federal investigator that the deceased employee did not work for him but for another company, which was JBV that he controlled. According to OSHA files, on April 13, 2017, the employee who was working on an elevated surface fell and struck the concrete floor. The employee was killed as a result of a traumatic brain injury.
In total, prosecutors said 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. He is to report to prison on January 21.2025.
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