Providence man pleads guilty to filing false tax returns related to multi-million-dollar catalytic converter theft scheme

Date: March 6, 2026

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PROVIDENCE - A Providence man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Providence to filing false tax returns after failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income that he received from selling stolen catalytic converters to a Rhode Island scrap yard, announced United States Attorney Charles C. Calenda.

Daniel Rivera pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns. Rivera is scheduled to be sentenced on June 17, 2026. The sentence imposed will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to information presented to the court, Rivera received approximately $59,890 from stolen catalytic converter sales in 2021 and $224,750 in 2022 but failed to report those amounts on his federal income tax returns. As a result, Rivera's false filings caused tax losses of approximately $13,426 for the tax year 2021 and $55,930 for the tax year 2022.

Charging documents reflect that from at least January 2021 until November 2022, Rivera and others canvased neighborhoods and parking lots in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in search of unoccupied vehicles from which they could steal catalytic converters. Many of the stolen catalytic converters were sold to a Providence company (identified in court documents as Company 1) that recycles catalytic converters. Depending on the model and type of precious metal component, the average scrap price for catalytic converters ranged from $300 to $1,500.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney's Paul F. Daly, Jr and Julie M. White.

The matter was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigations, the FBI, Cranston Police Department, Providence Police Department, United States Marshal Service, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Newport Police Department, Fitchburg State University Police, Watertown Police Department, Canton Police Department, Attleboro Police Department, Fall River Police Department, and Department of Veterans Affairs- Office of Inspector General-Criminal Investigations Division.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.