$10 Million Crime, FBI Say – NBC Boston

A Boston man bought more than $10 million worth of gold and silver bars in a tax evasion scheme involving his plumbing and heating company, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Claudio Poles, a 78-year-old from Dorchester who co-owns the Mattapan company, was charged Tuesday with four counts of filing false tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts.

Poles are said to have withheld some of the company’s income from the tax authorities and used the money to buy the gold and silver, writing ‘Boilers’, ‘Materials’ and ‘P&H Supp’. like the memo about checks he used to pay for the precious metals for his own benefit.

Poles filed fraudulent tax returns between 2019 and 2022, federal prosecutors said.

It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak to the charges.

A conviction for filing false tax returns carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, up to two years of probation and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.