According to a statement from the Justice Department on Tuesday, a group of four individuals, including a pair of Venezuelan nationals, orchestrated a scheme using 115 stolen identities to illicitly acquire $1 million through food stamps and pandemic unemployment benefits.

Federal officials have accused the group of pilfering identities nationwide, which included six minors, to fraudulently claim Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as pandemic unemployment assistance in states like Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington, and Nevada.

The individuals implicated in the scheme are Joel Vicioso Fernandez, 42, and Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, both residing in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, alongside Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, and Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24, the latter two being Venezuelan citizens based in Leominster, Massachusetts.

Authorities have disclosed that Raul Fernandez Vicioso was observed purchasing groceries using EBT benefits obtained through fraudulent means. He, along with his co-conspirators, faces charges for the misuse of over 100 stolen identities to secure these benefits.

All four suspects allegedly acquired 24 stolen identities for use in SNAP applications, portraying them as residents of two single-family units in Providence, Rhode Island. These applications involved over 100 different identities.

It is further alleged that Raul Fernandez Vicioso, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, and Joel Vicioso Fernandez utilized their own information to set up fake SNAP benefit accounts, which were mixed in with the identities of their victims in the fraudulent applications.

The suspects also provided images of counterfeit passports and passport cards, with metadata that indicated the images were taken inside or within the immediate vicinity of El Primo Restaurant — a restaurant operated by Raul Fernandez Vicioso in Leominster, Massachusetts, federal prosecutors said. 

The SNAP benefits were used to make bulk purchases of food items, including multiple-pound packages of chicken, beef and pork, at various local wholesalers and food markets to stock El Primo Restaurant, authorities said. 

Four people, including two Venezuelan citizens, used 115 stolen identities in a $1 million food stamps and pandemic unemployment fraud scheme, the Justice Department said Tuesday.  (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“With their supplies obtained for free through fraudulent SNAP benefits, 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 Justice Department said. 

In addition, between April 2020 and December 2021, the four defendants allegedly collected $700,000 by submitting fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) applications in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada.

At least 29 different identities were allegedly used in PUA applications, all of which listed the address for El Primo Restaurant as the residential address. Around $276,021 in fraudulent PUA benefits were deposited into bank accounts held in the names of the El Primo Restaurant, Raul Fernandez Vicioso, Joel Vicioso Fernandez and other co-conspirators, prosecutors said. 

All four defendants are charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire and possess SNAP benefits. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

During searches of Raul Fernandez Vicioso’s home and the restaurant, investigators found fraudulently obtained Massachusetts and Rhode Island EBT cards, fraudulent documents bearing a Providence address involved in the alleged scheme, printed ledgers and handwritten lists of more than 100 identities and SNAP-related mailings were recovered.

All four defendants are charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire and possess SNAP benefits. Raul Fernandez Vicioso, 37, is charged with conspiracy to commit SNAP fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, SNAP benefit fraud, aiding and abetting and money laundering. 

The remaining three are charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire and possess SNAP benefits.