Co-Owner of Mattapan Plumbing and Heating Supply Company Charged With Filing False Tax Returns and Using Unreported Receipts To Buy Gold Bars

BOSTON – The co-owner of a Mattapan plumbing and heating supply company was charged today with filing false tax returns in connection with a scheme to use millions of dollars of unreported receipts of the business to buy gold bars.

Claudio Poles, 78, of Dorchester, was charged with four counts of filing false tax returns.

According to the charging documents, Poles failed to accurately disclose the company’s gross business receipts to its tax preparer, who prepared the company’s tax returns using the false information Poles provided. Poles then used some of the unreported gross receipts to purchase more than $10 million of gold and silver bars for himself from bullion dealers. To conceal the nature of the purchases he made from the company’s bank accounts for his personal benefit, Poles allegedly described the purchases, in the memo section of the checks, as for “Boilers,” “Materials” and “P&H Supp.” 

The charging documents allege that between 2019 and 2022, Poles falsely and fraudulently reported losses on his individual tax returns and omitted personal income that he received from the business by purchasing the gold and silver bars.

The charge of filing false tax returns provides for a sentence of up to three years in prison, up to two years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.  

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie A. Queenin of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.