Four charged in $1M SNAP, unemployment fraud scheme tied to Leominster restaurant

Crime

Prosecutors say stolen identities were used to collect benefits across multiple states and funnel food and cash through the eatery.

Three people were arrested and a fourth was charged in an alleged fraud scheme that used the stolen identities of more than 100 people to obtain over $1 million in government benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.  

According to a statement from Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office, the group fraudulently obtained about $440,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, along with more than $700,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits from six states: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington, and Nevada. 

Those charged include 42-year-old Joel Vicioso Fernandez of Fitchburg; 32-year-old Roman Vequiz Fernandez, a Venezuelan national living in Leominster; and 24-year-old Coralba Albarracin Siniva, also a Venezuelan national living in Leominster, according to the criminal complaint. 

The three face charges of conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, and possess SNAP benefits and were scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday, according to Foley’s statement. 

A fourth defendant, 37-year-old Raul Fernandez Vicioso of Fitchburg, is charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, SNAP benefit fraud, aiding and abetting, and money laundering, authorities said. 

According to the charging documents, the defendants and their co-conspirators purchased and used the stolen personal information of more than 100 people from multiple states to fraudulently obtain SNAP benefits. The stolen names were used to form 24 “households” — all listed as living in two single-family apartments in Providence. 

Federal agents interviewed several victims, including one person who lost access to legitimate SNAP benefits after a fraudulent application was submitted in her name, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors allege Raul Fernandez Vicioso and Joel Vicioso Fernandez also used their own personal information to create fraudulent SNAP accounts, which were “commingled” with victims’ identities in the application.

The group allegedly submitted images of counterfeit passports and passport cards to support the applications. Metadata showed some of those images were taken inside or near El Primo Restaurant, a Leominster eatery operated by Raul Fernandez Vicioso, according to the statement. 

Once benefits were issued on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards bearing victims’ names, the defendants allegedly removed printed names from the cards and reset personal identification numbers to match.

“With their supplies obtained for free, 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,” the complaint reads. 

Between April 2020 and December 2021, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly submitted fraudulent PUA applications in six states, using at least 29 different identities, according to the charging documents. All of the applications listed El Primo Restaurant’s address as the residential address. 

During searches of Raul Fernandez Vicioso’s home and the restaurant, agents recovered fraudulent documents tied to the Providence addresses, printed ledgers, handwritten lists of more than 100 identities, SNAP-related mail, and fraudulently obtained EBT cards, Foley’s office said. 

Store and physical surveillance also showed conspirators using fraudulent SNAP cards to buy food and bring it to the restaurant, according to the complaint. 

Raul Fernandez Vicioso admitted to agents that he purchased stolen personal information and used it to apply for benefits, the complaint states.