Civil case against ‘Codfather’ settled for $3 million and a divestiture from commercial fishing

NOAA HAS SETTLED its civil case against Carlos Rafael, known as the
NOAA HAS SETTLED its civil case against Carlos Rafael, known as the "Codfather," for $3 million and requirements that Rafael relinquish his permits and divest from his fishing assets. NOAA said the settlement will speed up the return of Rafael's assets to productive use. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/MARK ELIAS

NEW BEDFORD – The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it had settled the federal civil case against Carlos Rafael and his fishing captains Monday.

Under terms of the settlement, Rafael will pay a $3 million penalty, will relinquish his seafood dealer permit issued to Carlos Seafood by Sept. 1, permanently cease all commercial fishing, except for scalloping, by Dec. 31 (Scalloping must cease by March 31, 2020).

Since the announcement of the case, Rafael has earned the nickname, the “Codfather.” The nickname was even used by the U.S. Attorney at the time of his sentencing.

The civil case was in addition to a criminal case for which Rafael was sentenced to 46 months in prison, and was forced to pay $300,000 in fines and restitution. The criminal case barred him from the fishing industry during a three-year supervised release and forced him to forfeit two fishing vessels.

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Rafael was convicted of misrepresenting the amounts and species of fish his commercial fishing operation caught, violating federal fisheries regulations. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy, false labeling of fish, falsifying federal records, bulk cash smuggling and tax evasion in 2017. The government said his business was one of the largest commercial fishing businesses in the United States.

He had 32 fishing vessel and 44 permits through various companies. His crimes were discovered through an undercover operation. He had been smuggling cash to Portugal to avoid taxes.

“U.S. fisheries are among the most sustainable in the world. That achievement is based on dynamic management and by honest fishermen following the rules. Today’s settlement of the government’s civil case against Carlos Rafael accomplishes NOAA’s chief objective of permanently removing Mr. Rafael from participation in federal fisheries,” said Chris Oliver, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries, in a statement. “The settlement also clears the way for Mr. Rafael’s fishing assets that have been tied up in this litigation to be returned to productive use. Mr. Rafael’s forced divestiture and permanent ban from commercial fishing is a fitting end to this case, on top of the criminal sentence he is already serving.”

Rafael must also sell all federal fishing permits and fishing vessels he owns or controls by Dec. 31, 2020, with all transactions reviewed and approved by NOAA.

The settlement also affects 17 of Rafael’s former captains. The captains will serve suspensions of their operator permits – requiring that they cannot be aboard a federally permitted vessel while it is at sea or offloading. Suspensions varied on the severity of each captain’s violations, ranging from 20 and 200 days. Captains also will serve probationary periods ranging between one and three years that involve additional monitoring and reporting requirements. If the captains are found in violation during probationary periods, they will be forced to permanently lose their operator permits.

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor. You may reach him at Bergenheim@PBN.com.

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