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May 21, 2008
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OWNER OF NORTH ATTLEBORO SEAFOOD DEALER CHARGED WITH $7 MILLION BANK FRAUD

BOSTON, MA - The owner and former controller of Ocean Fresh Seafood, Inc. were charged today with engaging in a scheme to defraud Wells Fargo Business Credit, Inc., a division of Wells Fargo Bank NA, of at least $7 million.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – New England Field Division, and Tyrone G. Barney, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service , Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office announced that ROBERT COUTU, age 53, of 500 Mendon Road, Cumberland, Rhode Island, was charged in a 17 count Indictment with conspiracy, bank fraud, and money laundering. CYNTHIA LAROSE, age 40, of 87 Allenson Avenue, South Attleboro, Massachusetts, was charged in the same Indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

BOSTON - The owner of a former North Attleboro seafood business and a key aide were both indicted Wednesday on federal bank fraud charges for their role in an alleged scheme to bilk Wells Fargo Bank of more than $7 million.

Robert G. Coutu, 53, of 500 Mendon Road in Cumberland, R.I., the former president and sole stockholder of Ocean Fresh Seafood, was charged in a 17-count indictment with conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.

Cynthia Larose, 40, of 87 Allenson Ave. in South Attleboro, was charged in the same indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Coutu disappeared last September after bank auditors found large discrepancies in receivables and sales reports, then took over the seafood distribution and retail sales business. Dozens of people were thrown out of work.

Former owner of Ocean Fresh arrested in Costa Rica
Man accused of trying to bilk bank out of $7M while owning North seafood company

NORTH ATTLEBORO - Robert G. Coutu, former owner of a North Attleboro seafood wholesale company and the alleged architect of a scheme to bilk Wells Fargo of up to $7 million, is in federal custody in Florida on charges of bank fraud and money laundering following a lengthy sojourn in Latin America.

Coutu was arrested last month in Costa Rica after attempting to enter the Central American country on a Panamanian passport, according to an FBI affadavit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston.


The businessman vanished last September after an audit led to the discovery of millions of dollars in irregularities in Ocean Fresh Seafood inventory and sales records.


Customers are shown outside the former Ocean Fresh Seafood in North Attleboro last fall as they tried to redeem gift certificates. (Sun Chronicle file photo)

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05/22/08 | Posted by admin | Category General

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NORTH ATTLEBORO - If you've been missing your weekly fresh fish fix since the demise of Ocean Fresh Seafood, worry no longer - Fresh Catch will be opening up a new retail store in the same location.

Fresh Catch Restaurant owner Bill Sarro Jr. will open a retail shop called the Fresh Catch Seafood and Butcher Shop at North Plaza on Route 1. The shop, which will be open seven days a week, will officially open for business today.
"We'll have a full service meat and deli shop with lobsters, seafood and other items, including a salad section. It's going to have a little bit of everything."

The beleaguered store, which has been open for weeks selling off inventory after a bank takeover, has been closed this week - with its counters empty and lights turned off.
The apparent shutdown comes a week after representatives from Ocean Fresh failed to attend an eviction hearing in Attleboro District Court. Because no one appeared to represent Ocean Fresh, the company was considered in default and the eviction was granted.

The complaint filed by the landlord, Compass Realty/Attleboro, alleges Ocean Fresh Seafood owes $39,079 in back rent for the seafood store.

NORTH ATTLEBORO - The landlord has filed a court complaint seeking to evict Ocean Fresh Seafood, alleging its owner owes at least $53,140 in back rent.

A hearing is scheduled Oct. 11 in Attleboro District Court.
The complaint filed by the landlord, Compass Realty/Attleboro LLC, alleges Ocean Fresh Seafood Inc., owes $39,079 in back rent for the seafood store.

The landlord also alleges Ocean Fresh Seafood of North Attleboro Inc. owes $14,059 for its corporate office next door to the fish market.

NORTH ATTLEBORO - When Dennis Rivard heard that Ocean Fresh Seafood had been seized by its bank and might be closing, he rushed to the store to redeem three gift certificates totaling about $50.

But Rivard and others who arrived at Ocean Fresh Thursday morning were dismayed to learn the business would not accept the certificates - at least for 72 hours - while the operators attempt to determine which gifts are legitimate.

NORTH ATTLEBORO - A picture is emerging that Ocean Fresh Seafood might have been a house of cards long before it apparently collapsed late last week.

While troubles at the North Attleboro company were relatively unknown to the public until recently, the firm and its owners were known to the seafood industry as potentially shaky credit risks, according to ratings by Seafax, the maritime industry's credit reporting service.

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There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me! What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning:
The surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

HAVE A MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, except father's mouse.
The computer was humming, the icons were hopping,
As father did last-minute Internet shopping.

Working for a Seafood Wholesaler in Southerm Mass for 22 years, I had seen alot of things that consumers as well as some restaurants are not aware of. From time to time the product you buy is not always what it appears to be. For Instance Cod fillets could actually be Haddock fillets and visa versa.

The prices vary according to the Auction prices, which takes place very early in the day, prices depend on the daily catch brought in from fishing boats to the fishing ports such as New Bedford Mass. If only a little Haddock was caught the domestic prices go up.
Although there is a large quantity of haddock imported from Iceland on a reg basis as well, where prices usually hover around the same, but there is the time of storms and such events that make those prices climb rapidly also. I would like to also mention that alot of fish comes from Canada as well. Many restaurants prefer fish fillets from Iceland and Canada, for a well known fact, the colder the water the firmer the fish.