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Authorities in Massachusetts charged two Haitian men with SNAP program fraud amounting to over $7 million on Wednesday.
The suspects, 74-year-old Antonio Bonheur and 21-year-old Saul Alisme, each face one charge of food stamp fraud. District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said the two men used small storefronts, the Jesula Variety Store and Saul Mache Mixe Store, to redeem the SNAP benefits sometimes amounting to $500,000 per month.
“These were not supermarkets. They were not full-service groceries. It would be a huge stretch to even call them convenience stores,” Foley said at a Wednesday press conference. “The only thing convenient about these stores was how easy it was to commit SNAP benefit fraud.”
“This was not a sophisticated fraud scene, and it didn’t have to be because a lack of oversight was all that was needed to allow it to happen,” Foley said.
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If convicted, the two men face up to five years in prison as well as three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Prosecutors say the vast majority of the fraud took place from the Jesula storefront. Gov. Maura Healey says state officials notified federal authorities about suspicious transactions at the store earlier this year.
“My administration reported this suspicious activity to the federal government for investigation and prosecution over a year ago,” Healey said in a statement. “As a former Attorney General and now Governor, I will always support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for anyone who engages in fraud or abuse of a federal program or any program.”
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News of the fraud comes after President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to cut off federal funding for Democrat-run states if they do not inspect SNAP benefit payments. Federal authorities are enacting a crackdown on welfare fraud, thanks in large part to Somali immigrants allegedly defrauding Minnesota taxpayers of roughly $1 billion under Gov. Tim Walz.
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Walz announced in a press conference last week that he is installing a new statewide prevention program that will work with a private firm specializing in forensic auditing.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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