Medford Business Owner Sentenced For Tax Fraud

MEDFORD, MA — The owner and operator of Contract Framing Builders, headquartered on Mystic Avenue, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for tax fraud.

Mauricio Baiense, 57, was sentenced by federal court Tuesday after being found guilty by Judge William G. Young of perpetrating a scam that resulted in a tax loss of $2,824,577 for his company as well as making false statements while under oath about a workplace accident that resulted in the death of an employee. He was officially convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, seven counts of failure to collect and pay over taxes, one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and one count of making false statements to a federal investigator after pleading guilty.

“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 in fact nominee entities controlled by him,” the United States Attorney’s Office said in a press release. 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.”

The release added that Baiense did not pay taxes on employees’ who were paid in cash, as he did not report them to the IRS.

Balinese was reportedly interviewed under oath by the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the fatal workplace accident, and was found guilty of making the false claim that the deceased employee did not work for him.

As part of his sentencing, Baiense will be required to pay the $2.8 million back in restitution. His prison sentence is slated to be followed by one year of supervised release.