Federal prosecutors say more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded benefits meant for struggling families in Massachusetts and Rhode Island was siphoned off in a brazen fraud scheme that allegedly used stolen identities to bankroll a local restaurant.
Three defendants were arrested and a fourth charged in the case, which authorities say relied on 115 stolen identities to fraudulently obtain about $440,000 in SNAP benefits from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, along with hundreds of thousands more in pandemic aid — pushing the total haul past $1 million.
The defendants named in the case are:
* Joel Vicioso Fernandez, 42, of Fitchburg, Mass.
* Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, a Venezuelan national living in Leominster, Mass.
* Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24, a Venezuelan national living in Leominster, Mass.
* Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, of Fitchburg, Mass., who faces additional charges including wire fraud, SNAP fraud and money laundering
According to charging documents, the defendants created 24 fake SNAP “households,” all supposedly living in two apartments in Providence, despite many of the stolen identities belonging to people who lived in other states.
Prosecutors say the operation centered on El Primo Restaurant in Leominster, where counterfeit passport images — some traced by metadata to inside or near the restaurant — were allegedly used to support fraudulent benefit applications filed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Once approved, investigators allege the EBT cards were used to buy bulk meat and food from wholesalers, stocking the restaurant at no cost. The food was then cooked, sold at full price, and converted into pure profit.
Searches tied to the case uncovered Massachusetts and Rhode Island EBT cards, fake documents listing Providence addresses, and handwritten ledgers containing more than 100 stolen identities, authorities said.
If convicted, the defendants face years — and potentially decades — in federal prison, along with steep fines.
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