Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges
State lawmaker accused of scamming over $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Francisco E. Paulino
Photograph: Francisco E Paulino via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
What this story says
- Massachusetts State Representative Francisco Paulino was arrested and charged with 11 counts including pandemic unemployment insurance fraud, pandemic loan fraud, and money laundering.
- U.S. Attorney Leah Foley stated Paulino allegedly devised a scheme to obtain more than $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds.
- Paulino is accused of using some of the funds for personal use, including real estate, loan payments, and his campaign account.
- The alleged fraud began in 2020 when Paulino signed up for COVID relief funding for a relative.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 8 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
60/100
Hype
61/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Massachusetts State Representative Francisco Paulino has been arrested and charged with 11 counts related to pandemic unemployment insurance fraud, pandemic loan fraud, and money laundering. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley announced that Paulino allegedly devised a scheme to obtain over $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds.
According to the indictment, Paulino is accused of using some of the funds for personal benefit, including expenses for real estate, loan payments, and transfers to his campaign account. He also allegedly lent other funds to individuals at interest rates higher than those offered by the pandemic relief program. The alleged fraud began in 2020 when Paulino reportedly signed up for COVID relief funding for a relative.
Paulino's arrest follows that of Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña, who was also arrested this month on similar charges of pandemic loan fraud and money laundering. DePeña is accused of diverting public funds since 2020, using pandemic relief money for his tire shop, mayoral campaign, and personal debts.
Coverage comparison
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention the specific amount of money Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña allegedly diverted or the name of his business, Tenares Tire Services Inc.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 26 Aug 2026, 20:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the left coverage of this story. The left-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
6 rated outlets
- Fox News reported on the arrest of Massachusetts State Representative Francisco Paulino, highlighting that he is a Democratic Party official. The outlet stated that Paulino was charged with 11 counts related to pandemic unemployment insurance fraud, pandemic loan fraud, and money laundering. Fox News quoted U.S. Attorney Leah Foley stating that Paulino allegedly devised a scheme to obtain more than $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds and used some for personal use, including real estate, loan payments, and his campaign account. The report also noted that Paulino allegedly lent other money to individuals at higher interest rates. Fox News mentioned that Paulino's alleged fraud began in 2020 when he signed up for COVID relief funding for a relative. The outlet also reported on the recent arrest of Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña on similar charges, noting that DePeña allegedly used pandemic relief funds for his campaign and personal debts.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 14% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 8. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges biased?
- Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Massachusetts Rep. Paulino Arrested on Fraud Charges?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What charges does Massachusetts State Rep. Francisco Paulino face?
- State Representative Francisco Paulino faces 11 counts related to pandemic unemployment insurance fraud, pandemic loan fraud, and money laundering. He is accused of orchestrating a scheme to obtain over $700,000 in federal pandemic relief funds.
- How did Francisco Paulino allegedly use the pandemic relief funds?
- According to the indictment, Paulino allegedly used some of the funds for personal expenses such as real estate and loan payments, and also transferred money to his campaign account. He also reportedly lent money to others at higher interest rates.
- When did the alleged fraud by Francisco Paulino begin?
- The alleged fraud by Francisco Paulino reportedly began in 2020. At that time, he is accused of signing up for COVID relief funding on behalf of a relative.
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
6- FBI Arrests Massachusetts Democrat State Rep. on COVID Relief Fraud Charges — Second Lawrence-Area Democrat Busted This Month * The Gateway Pundit * by Jim Hᴏft (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Democratic pols charged with COVID fraud in Massachusetts (opens Washington Times in a new tab)
Washington Times — is Washington Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Democrat officials charged for allegedly scamming COVID relief funds – Democratic Accent (opens democraticaccent.com in a new tab)
democraticaccent.com — is democraticaccent.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Democratic officials charged for allegedly scamming COVID relief funds (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- JUST IN: Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Arrested By The FBI (opens TrendingPolitics in a new tab)
TrendingPolitics — is TrendingPolitics biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Something in the Water? Two MA Public Officials Charged With Massively Pillaging COVID Relief Funds (opens RedState in a new tab)
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
