Co-Owner of Mattapan Plumbing and Heating Supply Company Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns and Using Unreported Receipts to Buy Gold Bars

Press Release

Defendant purchased more than $10 million of gold and silver bars

BOSTON - The co-owner of a Mattapan plumbing and heating supply company pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns in connection with a scheme to use millions of dollars of unreported business receipts to buy gold bars.

Claudio Poles, 78, of Dorchester, pleaded guilty to four counts of filing false tax returns. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Aug. 9, 2024. Poles was charged on April 30, 2024.

Poles failed to accurately disclose the company's gross business receipts to its tax preparer, who prepared the company's tax returns using the false information Poles provided. Poles then used some of the unreported gross receipts to purchase more than $10 million of gold and silver bars for himself from bullion dealers. To conceal the nature of the purchases he made from the company's bank accounts, Poles described the purchases, in the memo section of the checks, as being for boilers, materials, and plumbing and heating supplies.

Between 2019 and 2022, Poles falsely and fraudulently reported losses on his individual tax returns and omitted personal income that he received from the business by purchasing the gold and silver bars.

The charge of filing false tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, up to one year of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

Updated May 9, 2024