Four people living in Massachusetts have been charged with allegedly participating in a scheme that involved using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain money through federal programs, including the food stamp program.
Roman Vequiz Fernandez, 32, and three others allegedly bought and used stolen information for more than 100 people to create 24 fictitious households for applications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and states, according to charging documents.
The fictitious households were listed as living in apartments in Providence, Rhode Island.
Fernandez and 42-year-old Joel Vicioso Fernandez also used their own information in the scheme, along with counterfeit passports, authorities said. Metadata from images of the passports indicated they were taken inside or near a restaurant allegedly operated by a third person, 37-year-old Raul Fernandez Vicioso.
After officials approved the applications, the individuals received an average of $12,526 a month in food stamps from mid-2023 through the fall of 2025. The defendants bought chicken and other items in bulk and transported them to the restaurant, where they were prepared and sold, according to the charging documents.
The defendants allegedly took profits from the scheme and wired it to various places, including people living in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
Fernandez is a Venezuelan national. So is Coralba Albarracin Siniva, 24, a fourth person who was charged.
Video surveillance and internet records were used to build the case, authorities said.
People whose identities, including a mother of three in Massachusetts, were stolen in the scheme had been receiving food stamps. The theft resulted in them having difficulty accessing their benefits, according to the FBI.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts also accused the defendants of submitting fraudulent applications for a separate program called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In total, the scheme yielded more than $1 million in benefits, authorities said.
Roman and Joel Fernandez, and Siniva, were charged with conspiracy to use, transfer, acquire, and possess food stamp benefits. That charge can result in a prison sentence of up to five years, in addition to a fine of up to $250,000.
Vicioso was charged with conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and committing food stamp fraud, among other charges. He faces up to 50 years in prison.
A lawyer representing Vicioso did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. The other defendants did not have attorneys listed on the court docket.
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley told reporters in a briefing. “We are investigating many more benefit fraud cases in my office, and today’s announcement is just the beginning.”
