A Fitchburg man faces charges in connection with an alleged SNAP and pandemic benefits fraud scheme that raked in over $1 million by using the stolen identities of over 100 people.
According to U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, and his co-conspirators used SNAP benefits to buy bulk amounts of food for the Leominster restaurant, El Primo.
At a press conference Tuesday, Foley described how the crew used stolen identities to obtain about $440,000 in SNAP benefits: about $325,000 from Rhode Island and $115,000 from Massachusetts.
The defendants made those purchases “at no expense to themselves, but at considerable expense to taxpayers,” Foley said.
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.
Fernandez Vicioso’s wife, Joel Vicioso Fernandez, 42, has also been arrested for her alleged involvement in the scheme, along with his cousin Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, and his cousin’s partner Coralba Albarracin Siniva.
Both Vequiz Fernandez and Albarracin Siniva are Venezuelan nationals who previously held temporary protected status, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also noted that at least one of the victims whose identity was stolen had difficulty receiving the SNAP benefits she qualified for in Massachusetts for herself and her three children because of the scheme.
“It is no secret that there is rampant fraud across this nation,” Foley said. “The charges announced today are just a snapshot of the bigger picture, not just in Massachusetts, but across the country, people exploiting our precious taxpayer money and government resources for their own personal gain.”
Foley pointed to an alleged scheme that involved $7 million in fraudulent SNAP payments announced by her office last month.
In 2025, Rhode Island received about $340 million and Massachusetts received $2.6 billion from the USDA for SNAP benefits, Foley said.
“These benefits are intended to enable low income households to obtain a more nutritious diet by increasing their food purchasing power, not to stock someone’s restaurant,” she said.
Foley expressed frustration that although the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance had been alerted to the alleged fraud in June 2024 — after a Rhode Island audit revealed that more than 100 people receiving SNAP benefits were living between two Providence apartments — they did not reach out to her office to further investigate.
Bay State officials said the agency responded as soon as it received the alert from Rhode Island.
“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,” a department spokesperson told the Herald. “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.”
Uncovering fraud is a presidential priority, Foley noted, adding that “we are investigating many more benefit fraud cases in my office, and today’s announcement is just the beginning.”
“We don’t care whether it’s blue or red,” Anthony D’Esposite, inspector general for the U.S. Department of Labor, who also attended the press conference, said, “where there’s waste, fraud, and abuse, we will root it out.”
