A sitting Massachusetts state lawmaker was arrested by the FBI on federal pandemic relief fraud charges Wednesday.
Francisco E. Paulino, 46, a Democrat representing the 16th Essex District in the Massachusetts state legislature, was taken into federal custody following a grand jury indictment filed August 25 in U.S. District Court in Boston. The 24-page indictment includes 11 counts total: eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of unlawful monetary transactions or aiding and abetting money laundering.
Prosecutors allege the scheme ran from approximately April 2020 through at least December 2021 and involved more than $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds. Paulino was scheduled for arraignment in Boston federal court the same day as his arrest. His office has not responded to requests for comment, and no information on legal representation is publicly available.
According to the original report, Paulino owned and operated two Lawrence-based businesses, Madison Tax LLC and Madison Mortgage Inc. Prosecutors allege he used Madison Tax as a vehicle for the scheme, enlisting intermediaries and using other people’s personal identifying information to direct pandemic funds into accounts he controlled.
Among the more striking allegations: in April 2020, Paulino allegedly submitted a Pandemic Unemployment Assistance application online using the name of a 77-year-old relative, without that person’s knowledge. The application falsely claimed the relative was self-employed and had work disrupted by the pandemic. The deposits were directed to a Citizens Bank checking account held solely in Paulino’s name.
Prosecutors say he kept filing weekly certifications through September 2021. When the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance raised questions, he allegedly submitted fabricated documents, including ones that purported to come from the IRS. Between approximately $39,330 and more than $44,000 in benefits landed in the account he controlled.
Those funds, according to the charging documents, did not sit idle. Prosecutors allege the money was spent on personal expenses, loan payments, real estate transactions, and transfers into his own campaign account.
Paulino represents Methuen in the 16th Essex District. The alleged fraud covers a span of nearly two years, beginning in the early weeks of the federal government’s pandemic relief rollout and continuing well into 2021. Federal authorities say the scheme extended across multiple relief programs and involved fabricated documentation submitted to state agencies.
No guilty plea or public statement from Paulino or his legal team had been issued at the time of reporting. The case is being prosecuted in federal court in Boston.