Four Massachusetts men charged in multistate SNAP fraud Scheme

Ema Alice: The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that four people from Massachusetts were charged in a $1.1 million multistate federal food assistance fraud scheme.

Federal prosecutors said Joel Vicioso Fernandez, Raul Fernandez Vicioso, and Venezuelan nationals Roman Vequiz Fernandez and Coralba Albarracin Siniva, allegedly stole the identities of people all across the country to obtain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The four suspects are accused of using fake identities to acquire $700,000 in COVID-era unemployment benefits from six states, according to federal prosecutors.

“It is no secret there is rampant fraud across this nation,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley stated. “The charges announced today are just a snapshot of the bigger picture, not just in Massachusetts but across the country.”

“With their supplies obtained for free through fraudulent SNAP benefits, they prepared and then sold menu items at El Primo Restaurant at a complete profit, later wiring the fraud proceeds, among other places, to individuals living in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.”

Foley acknowledged Rhode Island officials detected the fraud in June 2024 after discovering SNAP applications for 117 people were coming from two apartments in the state.

While searching Raul Fernandez Vicioso’s residence and restaurant, investigators recovered fraudulently obtained Massachusetts and Rhode Island EBT cards, fraudulent documents bearing a Providence address that was involved in the alleged scheme,printed ledgers, and handwritten lists of more than 100 identities, as well as SNAP-related mailings. “They did not make any referrals to any of these federal agencies or to the U.S. attorney’s office so that we could go out and find the person who used stolen identities,” Foley added. “Because just shutting those off is not going to stop that person from going and obtaining new stolen identities and continuing the same fraud.”

All four suspects were charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire and possess SNAP benefits.

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