OSTON – The former owner and operator of APC, a transportation and delivery company based in Chelsea, was sentenced yesterday for his involvement in a mail fraud scheme.
Anthony Catalano, 52, formerly of Boxford, now living in Winthrop, was sentenced by Chief United States District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and restitution in the amount of $541,000 to The Travelers Insurance Company (Travelers). Catalano was also ordered to cooperate with the Internal Revenue Service regarding personal and corporate taxes due and owing. Catalano pleaded guilty in October 2023 to two counts of failing to collect, report and pay over employment taxes and one count of mail fraud in connection with cash wages he paid to company employees.
From 2017 to 2020, Catalano cashed more than $8 million in APC checks from customers and failed to report the company income to the IRS. Catalano pleaded guilty to using the bulk of the cash funds to pay employees “under-the-table” cash wages which APC was also required to report to the IRS. As a result, neither the company nor the employees paid employment or income taxes on the cash wages, resulting in a tax loss of more than $1 million to the IRS. Catalano also pleaded guilty to mail fraud for failing to disclose the cash wages to Travelers when it provided workers’ compensation coverage for APC employees. As a result, Catalano defrauded the insurance carrier out of more than $500,000 in insurance premiums.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Harry Chavis, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston made the announcement today. Assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.
