United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy | U.S. Department of Justice
A Clinton, Massachusetts man has been sentenced in federal court for his involvement in tax and mail fraud. Juliano Fernandes, 42, received a five-year probation sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman. In July 2023, Fernandes admitted guilt to multiple charges including 11 counts of employment tax fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of making false statements to a federal agency.
Fernandes had financial control over Force Corporation and AB Construction, both construction companies based in Massachusetts. Between 2015 and 2017, he intentionally failed to account for and remit employment taxes owed by these companies to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Additionally, from April 2013 through January 2017, Fernandes misled worker’s compensation insurance firms about the number of employees at Force Corporation and AB Construction as well as their wages.
In August 2017, Fernandes provided false information to the U.S. Department of Labor regarding property ownership in Lunenburg, Massachusetts and denied having responsibility or control over Force Corporation's payroll. These falsehoods were connected to the Department's attempts to recover funds related to alleged civil wage violations involving Fernandes and his businesses.
Co-defendant Anderson Dos Santos was also implicated; he worked for AB Construction and filed individual tax returns that under-reported his income for several years. Dos Santos pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2024 to three years of probation.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy along with Jonathan Wlodyka from the IRS Criminal Investigations Boston Field Office; Jonathan Mellone from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General; and Anthony DiPaolo from the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan D. O’Shea and Danial Bennett from the Worcester Branch Office along with John T. Mulcahy from the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit.
