Gov. Maura Healey and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley continue to accuse one another of being untruthful about whether Massachusetts officials tipped off federal investigators to SNAP fraud in the state after another major bust was announced Tuesday.
Foley announced an alleged SNAP fraud involving more than 100 stolen identities used to obtain over $1 million in SNAP and Public Unemployment Assistance benefits.
The case reportedly involved recent charges brought against Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, of Fitchburg, and his co-conspirators, who were said to have used SNAP benefits to buy bulk amounts of food for the Leominster restaurant, El Primo and another alleged scheme that involved $7 million in fraudulent SNAP payments announced by her office last month.
Foley described on Tuesday how the Fitchburg crew used stolen identities to obtain about $440,000 in SNAP benefits: about $325,000 from Rhode Island and $115,000 from Massachusetts. In addition to the SNAP fraud accusations, Fernandez Vicioso and his co-conspirators allegedly submitted false Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications, according to federal charging documents, leading to $700,000 in payments.
Profits from the alleged fraud were wired to individuals in Venezuela and used to pay for property in the Dominican Republic, according to an affidavit signed by Kyle Bishop, a special agent for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fernandez Vicioso has been charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP benefit fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aiding and abetting SNAP benefit fraud, and money laundering.
During her press conference, Foley said at no point did any Massachusetts agency or official refer any fraudulent activity to her office or federal authorities for this investigation.
Following a press conference held at the same time, Healey avoided a Herald question on if she should comply with the Trump administration’s request to turn over the recipient data. Healey avoided answering the question, instead stating that Massachusetts officials tipped off the feds to the $7 million SNAP fraud scheme uncovered by Foley’s office in December.
Foley on Wednesday addressed Healey’s comments.
“In the past 60 days, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged six individuals with over $8 million in SNAP benefit fraud,” Foley told the Herald in a statement. “Yesterday, the Governor stated that these cases were referred by Massachusetts authorities to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for investigation and prosecution. That is simply inaccurate.”
Foley added that during the time the crimes were being committed, Healey only deactivated the EBT debit cards flagged for fraud and did not prosecute any individuals connected to those cards and benefits.
“The bottom line is that merely shutting off a SNAP card holder’s benefits is not enough. Fraud perpetrators need to be investigated and prosecuted to ensure accountability and send a strong message that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated,” Foley told the Herald.
But Healey’s office and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) provided the Herald with what they say is proof that Massachusetts alerted federal investigators to fraudulent activity within the SNAP program, with a Healey spokesperson adding that Foley “is just wrong.”
“DTA takes every allegation of fraud seriously and has strong measures in place to identify and report fraud to protect the $2.6 billion dollar SNAP program that feeds Massachusetts families. These cases were identified and reported by the state of Rhode Island to Massachusetts DTA and the USDA’s Office of Inspector General. As soon as they were reported, Massachusetts DTA acted to immediately close the cases and work with the federal government to support their investigation,” a DTA spokesperson told the Herald in a written statement.
The department also provided the Herald with a screenshot of a November 2024 email from a DTA fraud investigator to the USDA warning of alleged fraud activity at a Boston variety store.
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