May 25, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

HYANNIS MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR IMMIGRATION AND TAX FRAUD

Boston, MA... A former Hyannis man pleaded guilty and was sentenced today to federal prison for defrauding members of the local Brazilian community, and lying to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the IRS and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Michael D. O'Keefe, District Attorney for Cape Cod and the Islands; Kenneth R. Jones, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; Robin A. Avers, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Colonel Thomas J. Foley, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Kenneth R. Rideout, Chief of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Criminal Investigations Bureau, announced today that JOAREZ REIS, age 54, formerly of Hyannis, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole to all fifty-four counts of an indictment charging him with mail fraud, making false statements to a federal agency, and presenting false claims against United States.

Immediately after accepting the guilty plea, Judge O'Toole sentenced REIS to 30 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Judge O'Toole also imposed a fine of $6,000 and ordered REIS to pay restitution totaling approximately $43,000. REIS was arrested in connection with this case in June, 2003 and has been in custody since that time.

At today's hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the evidence would have proven that from 1994 until June 2001, REIS held himself out as a provider of tax preparation and immigration application services, catering to Brazilian clients, many of whom spoke little or no English. REIS charged individuals a fee for helping them obtain permission to reside in this country. In actuality and unbeknownst to his clients, REIS submitted forged marriage certificates to the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") in order to obtain temporary work permits. REIS also submitted change of address notices, so that the clients' paperwork would be sent to post office boxes that REIS controlled, thus lulling the clients into believing that REIS had performed the services they had paid for.

In a separate scheme to defraud the IRS and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, REIS used clients' names and social security numbers, without the clients' knowledge, to submit phony tax returns seeking refunds. By using his own post office boxes as the mailing addresses on the returns, REIS was able to pocket the refund checks, while keeping the clients from learning what he was doing.

The case was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul G. Levenson in Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Welsh, III, Assistant District Attorney for the Cape and Islands District.

Press Contact: Samantha Martin, (617) 748-3139