Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced the arrests of 15 people, including 11 suspected illegal immigrants, accused of collectively stealing more than $1.4 million from taxpayer-funded benefit programs in what officials described as the opening phase of a broader fraud enforcement campaign.
The charges, unveiled Thursday by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office in Boston, span a range of alleged schemes involving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, MassHealth, Social Security disability payments, housing assistance, unemployment benefits, identity theft, and visa fraud. The enforcement action comes as the Justice Department intensifies scrutiny of fraud involving public assistance programs under the Trump administration.
“These cases highlight a broader, deeply troubling pattern: the exploitation of America’s safety-net by illegal aliens,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the DOJ’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said in a statement. He added that some of the defendants assumed stolen identities to steal taxpayer funds and that “we’re still working to figure out their true identities.”
Federal officials said the defendants include both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens. Several suspects allegedly used stolen identities and remain unidentified, resulting in criminal complaints being filed against multiple “John Doe” defendants. “We don’t know who they are fully, but we do know who they are not,” McDonald added during a press conference.
The largest alleged fraud scheme involved Heriberto Rodriguez of Framingham, Massachusetts, who is charged with passport fraud, SNAP fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors allege Rodriguez fraudulently obtained more than $546,000 in public benefits, including MassHealth, Social Security, Housing and Urban Development assistance, and SNAP benefits.
Other defendants include Santo Escolastico Cuello, a Dominican national unlawfully living in Worcester, who allegedly obtained more than $162,000 in MassHealth benefits through identity theft and false statements, and Richard Odelis Vallegas Nunez, another Dominican national living illegally in Massachusetts, who allegedly secured nearly $49,000 in fraudulent MassHealth benefits.
Federal prosecutors also charged several suspects accused of unlawfully receiving SNAP benefits and healthcare coverage while allegedly living in the country illegally. One unidentified defendant allegedly obtained $75,000 in MassHealth benefits through the use of a stolen Social Security number, while another allegedly stole approximately $11,000 in SNAP benefits.
Among the U.S. citizens charged were Mirian Chalas of New Hampshire, who allegedly fraudulently obtained more than $300,000 in MassHealth, Social Security disability, and SNAP benefits, and two Haverhill residents accused of Social Security fraud schemes involving more than $29,000 in benefits.
“Fraud by illegal aliens carries real and substantial costs to American taxpayers and places enormous strain on our public benefits systems,” McDonald said.
Foley said the arrests represent only the beginning of what she described as a sustained effort to identify and prosecute benefits fraud across Massachusetts.
“There isn’t any place else in the world where you can go and be handed free food, free housing, free healthcare and free monthly checks, while being in the country illegally,” Foley said. “However, it appears that you can come to Massachusetts and steal as many benefits as you want without fear and without any accountability. This is all ending on my watch.”
Federal investigators said a recent enforcement surge uncovered more than $1 million in alleged fraud and led authorities to identify additional document fraud and identity theft schemes connected to public benefits programs.
The crackdown follows Foley’s March creation of a district-wide Benefit & Voter Fraud Team, a specialized prosecutorial initiative designed to investigate misuse of taxpayer-funded benefits throughout Massachusetts. It also comes two months after the Justice Department established its new National Fraud Enforcement Division, which officials say supports President Donald Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President JD Vance.
STATE AUDIT UNCOVERS NEARLY $50 MILLION IN NORTH CAROLINA UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD
The Massachusetts arrests were announced two days after the Justice Department filed a separate lawsuit targeting what it described as fraud and abuse within New York’s Medicaid system.
In that case, federal prosecutors sued the New York State Department of Health, state Medicaid officials, and Public Partnerships, the company selected to administer New York’s roughly $10 billion Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.
