Malden Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Employer

BOSTON – A Malden man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud his employer, a large facilities services company with offices in the Greater Boston area.

Lou Amaral, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of tax evasion. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Oct. 9, 2018. Co-defendant Vence Pires, 58, also of Malden, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to plead guilty on July 12, 2018.

Amaral and Pires worked for the same facilities services company in the Greater Boston area. Amaral was the supervisor of the Special Services Department, and as such, he had the ability to hire employees and to contract with third-parties to provide temporary labor. Pires was an account manager who worked for Amaral in Special Services. Amaral first began taking bribes from a temporary labor company in order to steer contracts to that company. In 2014, Amaral opened up his own temporary labor company and, with the help of Pires, awarded himself the temporary labor contracts. Through this scheme, Amaral made approximately $10 million in revenue over a three-year period, resulting in harm to his employer of more than $4 million. 

Amaral faces a maximum sentence on the conspiracy and money laundering counts of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on each count. The charge of tax evasion provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000. Amaral has agreed to forfeit approximately $2 million that has been seized from him. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Delany De Leon-Colon, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen of Lelling’s Economic Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.