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Press Release

Malden Man Sentenced for Defrauding Employer

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Malden man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for 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, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 30  months in prison and two years of supervised release, and restitution to be determined at a later date. In July 2018, Amaral 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. Co-defendant Vence Pires, 58, also of Malden, was sentenced on Feb. 28, 2019, to one year and one day in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

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 a net gain to him of approximately $2 million.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kristina O’Connell, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston; and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Rosen of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

Updated March 6, 2019

Topic
Financial Fraud