Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
A Chelsea business owner has been arrested on charges related to tax evasion and COVID-19 loan fraud. Helcio Sperandio, 52, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly filing false tax returns, committing tax evasion, and engaging in wire fraud. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston following his arrest.
According to prosecutors, Sperandio operated Aquarelle Painting & Services. Authorities allege that between 2018 and at least 2022, he cashed hundreds of customer payment checks rather than depositing them into the company’s bank accounts. Prosecutors say Sperandio provided only bank statements to his tax preparer, omitting information about the cashed checks. As a result, both corporate and individual tax returns were filed with underreported income, which allowed Sperandio to evade more than $2.3 million in federal taxes.
Authorities also claim that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sperandio obtained a $150,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration by submitting false revenue figures and certifying that he was not involved in illegal activity while allegedly defrauding the U.S. Treasury. He later received an additional $277,500 loan increase from the SBA and used some of those funds to start a real estate company—a use prohibited under EIDL rules.
If convicted, Sperandio faces up to three years in prison for filing a false tax return, up to five years for tax evasion, and up to twenty years for wire fraud. Each charge carries possible supervised release terms and fines up to $250,000 or twice the monetary gain or loss involved.
“United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Boston Field Office; and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service made the announcement today.” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil is prosecuting the case.
The Department of Justice created a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021 to strengthen efforts against pandemic-related fraud by coordinating across agencies and sharing investigative resources. More details are available at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus and https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus/combatingfraud.
The public can report suspected COVID-19 fraud through the National Center for Disaster Fraud’s hotline or web complaint form.
Authorities emphasize that these are allegations and that “the defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”
