Massachusetts State Representative Charged With Pandemic Loan Fraud and Money Laundering
Francisco Paulino is accused of fraudulently obtaining over $700,000 in COVID-19 benefits and loans, according to federal prosecutors.
3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 26, 2026, 9:59 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 29, 2026, 12:52 p.m. ET
Massachusetts State Representative Charged With Pandemic Loan Fraud and Money Laundering
Francisco Paulino, 46, of Methuen, Massachusetts, was arrested and charged in an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Boston, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. The charges include eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering, as reported by townhall.com.
The government alleges that Paulino fraudulently obtained over $700,000 in COVID-19 unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans, using the proceeds to buy real estate and fund mortgages, according to townhall.com. The indictment details that Paulino allegedly submitted a fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance application in the name of an unknowing 77-year-old relative, receiving over $44,000 in benefits, and also obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans for his businesses and a client, using some funds for impermissible purposes.
These charges are only allegations at this stage, and the case has not been decided. Paulino is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston at 2 p.m. on August 26, 2026. Each wire fraud charge carries up to 20 years in prison, and each money laundering charge carries up to 10 years in prison, according to townhall.com.
Aug 26, 2026, 9:59 p.m. ETFirst report
Massachusetts State Representative Charged With Pandemic Loan Fraud and Money Laundering
BOSTON – Francisco Paulino, the Massachusetts State Representative for the 16th Essex District, was arrested and charged on Aug. 26, 2026, with fraudulently obtaining over $700,000 in COVID unemployment insurance benefits and small-business loans, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Paulino, 46, of Methuen, is charged in an 11-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Boston, including eight counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. He will make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston at 2 p.m. on the day of the announcement.
The indictment alleges that Paulino fraudulently obtained Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits in 2020-2021 in the name of an unknowing 77-year-old relative, submitting fabricated documents and false weekly certifications. It also alleges that he fraudulently obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) for his businesses and a client, using the proceeds for real estate purchases and mortgage loans.
The charges are allegations, and Paulino is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court. The case is only at the charging stage, and no determination of guilt has been made.
Was this report accurate and useful?
Sources
Revision history
- Version 129 Aug 2026, 16:52current
First published.
- Version 127 Aug 2026, 01:59current
First published.
- Version 129 Aug 2026, 17:22current
First published.
How we work
This site models an investigative reporter rather than a wire desk. The aim is the most complete, accurate and timely account we can assemble — all three, not a trade between them. Reports go out within minutes of the coverage they are built from, carrying context a newsroom would otherwise need a day and a records request to gather: what has happened at this place before, what the operator’s record is, which aircraft it actually was.
Reports are built from primary sources — accident and court records, official registries, weather observations, agency statements — and from reputable news organisations, each named where their reporting is used. Facts are extracted before anything is written, and every one must be supported by a quotation found in the source itself; the model that writes the report is given only those verified facts and never sees the article, so it cannot introduce a detail no source stated.
Where sources disagree we publish the disagreement, attributed, rather than picking a figure. Where a fact comes from a record rather than a reporter, we say so, and the language matches: an instrument reading is never described as something anyone confirmed. Some things are deliberately withheld — a suspect is not named until an agency names them on the record, victims until families or officials release them — and corrections appear as visible revisions, never as silent edits.
None of that makes a report true. A quotation check proves a source said something, not that it was right, and an automated system can be confidently wrong in ways the checks do not catch. If something here is wrong, the feedback above is how it gets found. The full methodology, including what we refuse to publish.