Tag Archives: defrauding the government

‘Wicked Tuna’ Star Paul Hebert gets 4 years of probation for defrauding the government

Paul-Hebert-WickedTunaA man whose fishing job was featured on the reality television show “Wicked Tuna” while he was receiving government disability benefits was sentenced on Wednesday to spend four years on probation and pay a $5,000 fine. Paul Hebert, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, must also pay more than $53,600 in restitution as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.  Hebert, 51, used to live in Barre. He was charged last summer with accepting more than $44,000 in Social Security and Medicaid disability benefits between 2010 and 2013. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of Social Security and Medicaid fraud and was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Burlington. “It is outrageous that Paul Hebert pretended to be disabled and poor in order to collect Medicaid benefits while at the same time starring as a captain of a fishing boat in a national TV reality show,” HHS Boston special agent in charge Phillip M. Coyne said. Read the rest here  18:25

Jones Inlet Seafood Co., Executives plead guilty to committing fraud, falsifying records and violating the Lacey Act.

Jones Inlet Seafood Co., the company’s president, Michael G. Mihale and company vice president Bruce Larson Jr. admitted they underreported the amount of summer flounder they caught between June 2009 and December 2011 by 56,000 pounds, the Department of Justice announced. Read more here  10:33 From US Justice