US Attorney, FBI expose major SNAP fraud committed by 2 Boston men. $7M in food stamps for hungry families allegedly stolen. Here’s how

“To be certain, these were not supermarkets. They were not full-service groceries,” Leah Foley, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said in a press conference (2). “It would be a huge stretch to even call them convenience stores. In fact, the only thing convenient about these stores was how easy it was to commit SNAP benefit fraud.”

According to the criminal complaint, Bonheur allegedly redeemed roughly $6.9 million in SNAP benefits through his Jesula Variety Store between September 2021 and November 2025. As for Alisme, authorities say he “trafficked over $121,890 in SNAP benefits” through his Saul Mache Mixe Store beginning in May of this year. Both men have been charged with one count of food stamp fraud (3).

“It is alleged that the defendants’ monthly SNAP redemptions for Jesula Variety Store regularly exceeded $100,000 — with many months exceeding $300,000 and, at times, $500,000,” the DOJ added (1). “By comparison, one full-service supermarket in the same area redeems approximately $82,000 per month in SNAP benefits.”

How the alleged SNAP scheme worked

Authorities claim Bonheur and Alisme were trafficking SNAP benefits for cash, a scheme that included transactions with undercover officers who visited the stores on multiple occasions. One example given in the complaint was a transaction in which an undercover officer reportedly trafficked $120 in SNAP benefits to Alisme, who gave the officer $100 in cash in return.

The DOJ allege the two men had several secondary bank accounts where SNAP proceeds were stored, withdrawn in cash and then redeposited in order to make the fraudulent activity look like legitimate business.

The complaint breaks down the month-by-month value of the alleged illegal SNAP transactions. In Bonheur’s case, some months recorded fewer than 20 SNAP transactions while during others, the numbers skyrocketed. In August 2024 alone, the complaint alleges Bonheur processed more than 1,900 SNAP transactions, redeeming $540,870 in benefits (3). The DOJ also says that 90% of SNAP-related transactions by Bonheur exceeded $95.

“Observations made by the undercovers showed that it was just as easy for anyone with an EBT card to walk into either store and convert hundreds of dollars in SNAP benefits into cash,” Foley noted in her press conference. “The defendants even sold liquor in exchange for SNAP benefits, an outright violation of federal law.”

The pair is also accused of selling MannaPack meals, which are food packages that were manufactured and donated by the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children. These meals come from charitable donations and are meant to provide humanitarian relief for starving children overseas. The defendants allegedly sold these meals for $8 each.

The scope of SNAP fraud

The case of Bonheur and Alisme represents a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars believed to have been stolen from the SNAP benefits program in recent years.

Pew Research reports that between October 2024 and May 2025, 42.4 million Americans received monthly SNAP benefits, with an average payout of $188.45 per person — or $350.89 per household — and a total government expenditure of close to $65 billion (4).

That said, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote that states reported “more than $320 million in stolen benefits between October 2022 and December 2024” — a number they say is likely higher but unreported due to recipients either not filing claims, or the cap on the amount of claims a person is allowed to file in a year (5).

The GAO adds that thieves employ numerous tactics to steal SNAP benefits, including card skimming — a common occurrence in which a device is put into the machine where a person inserts their EBT cards, thus illegally copying their personal information to make duplicate cards and steal the victim’s money. The office says that “most SNAP benefits cards do not have theft-prevention features, such as microchips, that are standard on commercial debit cards,” which would help prevent theft.

Christopher Bosso, a professor of public policy and political science at Northeastern University, told the Wall Street Journal that “a program this size, you’re going to have some amount of this [fraud].” Bosso did note, however, that the fraud typically isn’t committed by the recipients themselves (6).

The GAO confirmed this, saying that “the thieves range from individuals to organized crime groups operating across the globe who can use stolen benefits to help fund illicit activities.” It also noted that some anti-fraud measures are being taken, such as modernizing the EBT cards to allow for similar security to credit cards, along with options for recipients to block suspicious transactions and lock the card.